MXPA98002194A - Method and apparatus for distribution of automatic calls - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an automatic call distribution system including multiple call receiving agents associated with a service entity, each of which has conventional telephone access to the public telephone telecommunication network (PSTN). A call center controller (18) initially receives a communication from the calling subscriber from the PSTN intended for the service entity and selects one of the call receiving agents to handle the calling subscriber's communication based on the availability of the agent. The call center controller (18) coordinates in the establishment of a direct communication path for the call between the PSTN and the selected agent that is independent of the call center controller (18). In other words, after establishing the direct call connection, the call center controller is not an intermediary nor is it otherwise involved in actual communication between the calling subscriber and the agent. Significantly, the call center controller establishes the connection of the direct call between the incoming call and the agent that handles selected available calls, without the need for a separate private exchange (PBX) or an automatic call distribution switch ( AC

Description

"METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DISTRIBUTION OF AUTOMATIC CALLS" FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to an automatic call distribution center, and, in particular, to a method and apparatus for distributing calls to a plurality of call handling agents through the public telephone switching network (PSTN).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Automatic call distribution systems (ACD) are used by service and marketing companies to provide, for example, telemarketing services. In automatic call distribution systems, incoming calls that relate to a certain product or service are distributed for handling to one of a plurality of call handling agents. Outgoing calls, related to the product or service, can also be placed either manually or through one of the agents automatically through the ACD system itself. Each call handling agent typically has a telephone and a computer terminal at their work station. Some agents sit together in a common centralized office location, and others may work in distant locations such as satellite offices or their homes. Because calling subscribers or customers typically dial only a telephone number to contact the service or merchandising company, a call distribution mechanism is needed to distribute the incoming calls to the available call handling agents. . To date, an efficient, cost-effective mechanism has not been provided that distributes incoming calls to a single telephone number for an available agent located either at a central location or at a distant location. The call distribution functions are conventionally executed as a part of the PBX telephone switch or by a separate automatic call distribution switch (ACD), see for example Patent Number Number EPA 0622938A2. Many companies do not have, do not need, and / or can not provide a separate dedicated PBX or ACD switch. However, if the businesses need or want the distribution of automatic calls at any scale (large or small), they can buy their own ACD and / or PBX switch. Another inconvenience of centrally placed dedicated PBX or ACD switches is that they do not allow call handling agents to work in separate locations (including their homes) distant from the central business location. What is needed is an automatic call distribution system that distributes calls to agents located centrally and remotely without a PBX or ACD switch.

COMPENDIUM OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic call distribution system and method that eliminates the need for a PBX or an ACD switch in the selection of an agent to handle an incoming call. A further object of the present invention is to provide a call distribution controller that establishes a direct call connection between an incoming call client from the PSTN and a selected available call handling agent. A further object is to provide a call distribution controller that sends calls from the PSTN to call handling agents located centrally and remotely, establishing direct telephone connections with the public telephone network. A further object of the invention in an embodiment of the present invention is to maintain a direct connection between the PSTN and a selected call handling agent without any intervention or intermediate control by the call distribution controller. A further object of the present invention is to allow an agent that handles calls to indicate their availability to handle additional incoming calls from the terminal of the agent's computer., instead of from a current position of the agent's phone. In the automatic call distribution system according to the present invention, the multiple call receiving agents associated with a service entity have conventional telephone access to the public telephone switching network (PSTN). A call center controller initially receives a communication from the calling subscriber from the PSTN, destined for the service entity, selects one of the call receiving agents to handle the calling party's communication based on the availability of the agent.

The call center controller coordinates the establishment of a direct communication path for the calling subscriber's communication between the public telephone network and the selected agent that is independent of the call center controller. In other words, after establishing the direct call connection, the call center controller is not an intermediary nor is it otherwise involved in the substantive communication between the calling subscriber and the agent. Each call handling agent has a telephone connected in a conventional manner to the PSTN and a computer terminal connected to the entire call center controller via a data link. The agent's telephone and the computer's terminal are referred to together as the agent's "work station". The call center controller selects an agent based on agent availability as detected from agent entries from each agent's computer terminal. Instead of a call that is directed to an agent as soon as the agent hangs up the telephone, the controller waits for an indication of the agent's affirmative availability through the agent's computer terminal through the data link. This technique for determining the availability of the agent allows the agent to execute the data entry of subsequent telephone calls and process the tasks before having to handle a new call. The centrally located agent computer terminals can be connected through a local area network (LAN). One or more of the agents located remotely, eg, located in their respective personal residences, can be connected through the wide area network (WAN) with the call center controller and also with the local area network. The call center controller includes a public telephone switch interface, a central processor, and a database that stores the information including each agent's telephone number (either at a central office station or at a distant location) and its data processing terminal addresses in the LAN and / or WAN. The controller executes (1) call management functions which allows the calling customer to connect to an available call handling agent within a reasonable time, after a greeting from the initial caller and in compilation of the call information. initial caller, and (2) admin information service functions to collect and "pack" important real-time information and digest to manage the business / service including the average waiting time of the calling party, the time of call handling, the current state of the current caller's queue, etc. The call center controller is connected to, but physically separated from, a public telephone network switch (eg, the AX-10 switch that can be obtained from Ericsson) using normal line interfaces without requiring any modification to the public telephone switch itself . During operation, when a call is received to the business / service telephone number via the PSTN switch, it is sent to the call center controller together with the address information set to that call, e.g., the identity of the call center. calling subscriber, and in some telephone switches, the identity of the calling subscriber. The call center controller greets the calling party using pre-registered voice messages and then queues the call until an agent becomes available. To direct the call to a local or remote agent, the call center controller (having found an unoccupied agent) makes a query call through the PSTN switch to that selected agent. When the selected agent answers the call (ie, to reconfirm that the agent is still available), the call center controller requests a call transfer from the PSTN switch to the telephone number of the selected agent. The PSTN switch executes the call transfer directly, connecting PSTN to the selected agent, with the control of the call center not being involved in the call connection or communication. Accordingly, the present invention eliminates the need for a separate PBX or ACD switch. The call center controller can be shared by many different business entities, each of which employs several call processing agents. In other words, the call center controller detects which calls are for business and sends different business calls to the available agents associated with the appropriate businesses. Since the centrally located and remote agents are already connected to PSTN, there is no need for a special PBX or ACD switch. Therefore, based on the information in a single database, any number of calls can be directed to the appropriate and available agents. The call center controller includes an automatic voice response capability that provides a voice greeting to the calling party when the incoming call is first received by the calling center and provides continuous interactive type voice support to the calling subscriber, if the call should be queued before an agent is available to make the call directly. Various inherent call functions may be supported during this time, wherein the calling subscriber provides different kinds of information related to the business / service, using for example pressure button DTMF responses to the pre-registered questions. This information is then recorded in the call center database and then presented to the computer terminal of the agent selected for presentation. Once an agent is available, the call is transferred as described above. When the agent is directly handling the call, the present invention allows that agent to transfer the calling party to another (expert) agent. Along with the transfer of the call, a copy of the data related to this calling subscriber is transferred through the data network (e.g., LAN and / or WAN) linking the different terminals of the agent's computer. These and other advantages and features of the invention will become apparent from the following description and will be illustrated in the embodiment of the invention taken together with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a functional diagram illustrating the automatic call distribution system in accordance with the present invention; and Figures 2 to 5 are different flow chart diagrams illustrating the various methods for carrying out the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the following description, for purposes of explanation and not limitation, specific details are pointed out such as the specific telephone switch, the interface, the techniques, etc. in order to provide a complete understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to a person skilled in the art that the present invention can be implemented in other embodiments that deviate from the specific details. In other cases, detailed descriptions of well-known methods, devices and circuits are omitted so as not to complicate the description of the present invention with unnecessary details. Referring to Figure 1, a total functional diagram of the automatic call distribution system 10 according to the present invention is shown. The public telephone switching network (PSTN) 12 sends the calls to a PSTN switch 14 which is connected to a call center controller 18 and a plurality of work stations 32a and 32b of the call handling agent. An example of the PSTN switch is the Ericsson AXE-10 telephone switch. The multiple 32a work stations of the call handling agent are placed "on site" in a central business / service facility that requires automatic call distribution. Of course, there may be more than two call handling agents on the site. One or more of the workstations 32b of the remote agent are placed in separate facilities of the main business facility on the site and may be indicated, for example, in satellite business offices or houses of agents handling calls. At home the call handling agent's call handling workstation includes a computer terminal (eg, a personal computer) and a telephone connected via conventional telephone wires with the PSTN 12 through the PSTN switch 14. The agent workstation can also be the so-called "intelligent work station" that receives and transmits voice signals as well as data messages, using a single terminal unit. The terminals of the workstation computer of the agent handling calls on the site can be connected to an appropriate data communications link 26 to the call center controller 18. The terminals at the site can preferably be connected together via a local area network (LAN) 30 and with the remote terminals through the call center controller 18 and with the remote terminals through the wide area network (WAN) 28. As shown in Figure 1, the workstation 32b of the remote-handling agent connects to the WAN 28. Even though each of the terminals of the agent's computer may not connect via LAN 30. and / or WAN 28, these network and inter-network connections provide additional data communication features that a business may find desirable to service its customers, namely, the ability to exchange important data information between subscribers. computer terminals of the different agents that handle calls. However, to implement the present invention, it is only necessary that there be some kind of data link communication between the call center controller and the computer of each agent work station that handles calls. The call center controller 18 includes an interface 19 of the PSTN switch which is connected by appropriate data and voice communication lines 16 in the PSTN switch 14, a call center service unit (CCS) 20, a database 22, and an optional administration station 24. The call center service unit 20 includes appropriate data and memory processing hardware for storing / processing data and program instructions as well as for generating pre-registered voice messages, all of which are used to carry out the number of functions according to the present invention as will be described further below. Generally speaking, the call center service unit 20 executes (1) call management functions including inherent and automatic greeting services to incoming calls, to queuing, to monitoring and selection of call agent management, and (2) administration information service (MIS) functions to collect and "pack" important real-time and compendium information to manage the business / service, including call handling time, in the current state of the current caller's subscriber's queue, the average caller's waiting time, the productivity of the call handling agent, etc. The administration information can be provided to an optional administration station 24, which for example can be a personal computer connected by an appropriate data link, in order to provide personal administration with updated important business / productivity information. The call center controller 18 includes a single data base 22 (or alternatively a plurality of data bases) for storing (1) the information related to each business entity to which the service is being provided, (2) the information address and identification (telephone number, address of the computer terminal in the network, etc.) for each agent for each business entity to which the service is provided; and (3) the information related to the call for each agent Call handling Of course, the database also stores the identification and other sales information for each customer that is serviced. An advantageous feature of the present invention is that the call center controller 18 can execute call handling and other functions for the business / multiple service entity rather than just a single business / service entity. In the data base 22, the call center service unit 20 stores the business telephone number for each business for which the call center controller 18 executes automatic call handling functions together with an agent box potentially available to service the incoming calls of each of these business numbers. For each call handling agent, information related to the current status of the agent, the current status of availability (if registered), the telephone number, and the data communications address. By analyzing each incoming call and referencing the appropriate information in the database 22, the call center controller 18 provides the functions described above for the appropriate business. During operation, when a call to one of the telephone numbers of the business / service handled by the call center controller 18 is received by the PSTN switch 14, it is sent to the call center service unit 20 through of the interface 19, together with the address / identity information associated with the call, including the identity of the calling subscriber and the identity of the called subscriber, including the telephone number of the business / service. In response to incoming calls, the call center service unit 20 identifies the identity of the named business specific subscriber and greets the calling party with a voice message or greeting, properly pre-registered for that business identity. If call handling agents are immediately available, the call is queued and the calling subscriber is queried to obtain related information using the inherent functions of automatic calls. For example, the calling subscriber may be audibly requested to provide the different kinds of information related to the business / service to be provided, using the responses of a DTMF push button. These inherent automatic greeting functions are useful both for immediate service / response to the calling subscriber and to the collector for the calling subscriber information. The calling party information collected or collected is then stored in the data base 22 and sent via the data link 26 to the selected call handling agent to handle the incoming call. As a result, at the same time, the agent handling the selected calls starts talking to the calling party on the telephone, the agent will also "collect" the information about the calling subscriber obtained from the database 22 and / or through the inherent interaction of automatic calls with the calling subscriber. Once an agent indicates its availability through the data link 26 to the call center service unit 20, the call center service unit 20 removes the call from the queue and initiates a call transfer operation to through the PSTN switch 14. PSTN switches such as the Ericsson AXE-10 easily support call transfer type functions, and in response to a call transfer request, send a consultation call from the call center service unit 20 to the telephone and selected agent. If the agent answers his telephone, the PSTN switch 14 then sends the incoming call directly to that agent's telephone and disconnects the telephone connection between the call center service unit 20 and the incoming calling subscriber. The calling subscriber and the agent then communicate through a direct telephone line connection through the PSTN 12 and the switch 14 of the PSTN. The present invention also allows the selected call handling agent to later transfer the call to another call handling agent. This call transfer between the agents may be desirable or otherwise necessary when an agent handling specialized or expert calls is needed to provide the service requested by the calling subscriber. A transfer of calls between the agents can be effected using the same call transfer procedure through the PSTN switch 14 as described above, together with the call center service unit 20. In addition, a copy of the accumulated data for this specific calling subscriber to the expert / specialized agent through the data link 26 (eg, LAN 30 or WAN 28) that link the different computers of the workstation. In this way, the calls can be handled and distributed efficiently to the different call handling agents for a plurality of businesses, without the need for a special PBX switch or special automatic call distribution. In addition, calls can be efficiently distributed to on-site call handling agents as well as call handling agents remotely located and effectively serviced and coordinated using a common data or network link.

A more detailed description of a method of an example is now provided to implement the present invention together with the flow chart diagrams illustrated in Figures 2 to 5. Figure 2 indicates an initialization procedure. A call handling agent connects to its computer terminal at its workstation and the connection is communicated via the data link 26 to the call center service unit 20 (block 50). The computer communicated with the agent then establishes an entry dialogue with the CCS (block 52), and records the connection for administration information purposes (block 54). The CCS 20 processes the connected transaction and a decision is made (block 56) of whether the connection is from the work location in the agent's site that handles the calls. If so, the CCS 20 marks the agent as being connected from a telephone number in the corresponding site and the address of the computer terminal (block 58). Otherwise, the connection is marked by the CCS 20 as being from the off-site telephone number and the computer terminal address such as from a personal residence of the agent handling the calls (block 60). The CCS 20 recognizes a valid connection to the agent workstation (block 62). When a call handling agent is prepared to take a new call, the agent signals its availability to the CCS 20 by admitting a command into the agent's computer and sending it through the data link 26 to the CCS 20 (block 64). Figure 3 is a flow chart diagram illustrating the processing of the example of a call forwarding procedure in accordance with the present invention. In block 70, the PSTN switch 14 sends the incoming call to a call center controller 18 together with the identity information of the called subscriber / called subscriber. The CCS 20 receives the call from the PSTN switch 14 and identifies from the called subscriber identification information the applicable business identity together with the appropriate database information related to this business entity (block 72). The 1CCS 20 then executes an initial automatic greeting (using the pre-registered messages) in block 74 and determines whether an agent that handles calls is available to immediately handle the call in the decision block 76. If not, the call is immediately placed in a call queue and the CCS 20 updates the administration information service (MIS) section of the data link 22 to record the incoming call and its current state of the queue. Even when the call is queued, the CCS 20 executes the inherent collection and automatic information services as described above (block 80). Once it is determined that a call handling agent is available, the CCS 20 selects the agent available to receive and handle the call and marks that agent as busy in the database 22 (block 82). The CCS 20 then records an event message for the MIS to indicate that the selected agent is busy on the current call (block 84). The CCS 20 searches for the telephone number of the selected agent in the database 22 and requests a call transfer operation from the PSTN switch 14 (block 86). The telephone call is placed to the agent via the PSTN switch 14, and the agent (assuming it is still available) answers the call (block 88). The PSTN switch 14 establishes a direct communication channel connection between the calling subscriber and the work station of the selected agent and sends the transferred call to that selected agent's telephone (block 90). The agent's computer notifies the CCS 20 that the agent has answered, and the CCS 20 records that event message for MIS purposes (block 92). The CCS 20 calculates the different management parameters related to the business, including, for example, the handling time of the call, and parameters such as the average waiting time period of the calling party. The CCS 20 also carries out the update of the database for the current calling subscriber and the call transaction (block 94). A decision is made in block 96 of whether the current agent wishes to transfer the call to another agent (such as a specialized or expert agent). If so, the agent executes a call transfer operation using the PSTN switch 14 in the same manner as was previously executed by the CCS 20 (block 98). The call is transferred to the other agent, and the data of the related calling subscriber is transferred through the data link 26 to the other agent. The transfer of the call is also recorded in the MIS database section. After executing these functions and in the situation where the call is not transferred to another agent, the control proceeds to block 100 where the selected agent is disconnected from the calling subscriber upon completion of the call. The terminal of the agent computer then sends an event message of the terminated call to the CCS 20 for registration of the MIS section of the data base 22 (block 102). Once the agent completes any of the post-call processing activities, it indicates its availability to the CCS 20 through the data link 26 by admitting its computer terminal and sending through the data link an appropriate availability command ( block 104). The CCS 20 records agent availability and updates the appropriate MIS database entries. Figure 4 is a flow chart diagram illustrating the operations performed when an agent makes an exit call without disconnecting. During this time, the agent is not available to receive incoming calls. Initially, the agent connects and becomes available as shown in block 120. In block 122, the agent initiates an outgoing call and his computer indicates that the agent is busy (block 122). The CCS 20 registers the agent as busy on an outgoing call to update the MIS database. Some time later, the agent disconnects from the outgoing call (block 126), and the CCS 20 is informed of the disconnection by the agent's computer (block 128). The CCS 20 updates the MIS section of the database 22 and indicates that agent as available (block 130). Many agents have their own telephone numbers whereby they can be reached directly on incoming calls. If someone calls the unoccupied agent's phone, the call can be accepted and the CCS 20 informed to signal the agent as being busy. These features are mainly provided for MIS purposes. Figure 5 is a flow chart diagram illustrating the disconnection process. The agent initiates the disconnection (block 140), and the agent's computer notifies the CCS 20 through the data link 26 that the disconnection request (block 142). The CCS 20 processes the disconnect transaction and registers it in the MIS section of the data base 22 (block 144) and connects the agent (block 146). Even though the invention has been described in relation to what is currently considered to be the most practical preferred modality, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the modality disclosed, but on the contrary it is intended to protect the various modifications and equivalent provisions included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Claims (20)

CLAIMS:

1. An automatic call distribution system, comprising: a public telephone network; a first set of call receiving agents associated with a common service entity, each agent has a telephone connected to the public telephone network; and a controller for initially receiving a call addressed to the common service entity and automatically establishing a communication path for the call between the telephone network and one of the independent controller agents.

The system of claim 1, wherein the public telephone network includes a public telephone switch, each agent includes a telephone, and the established communication path is a direct telephone connection between the public telephone switch and the selected agent .

The system of claim 1, wherein the controller selects one of the examples to handle the call, based on the current availability status of the agents.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein each agent further includes a computer terminal connected to the controller through a data link, and each agent indicates the availability to handle calls by admitting an availability command at the computer terminal , and sending the available availability command through the data link to the controller.

The system of claim 4, wherein the terminals of the computer of some of the agents are connected through the local area network (LAN) and the LAN is connected to at least one other agent located remotely through of a wide area network (WAN).

The system of claim 5, wherein each terminal of the agent's computer includes a corresponding network address and each agent's telephone includes a corresponding telephone number, the controller includes a memory to store the corresponding network address and the telephone number for each agent.

The system of claim 1, further comprising a second set of call receiving agents associated with a second common service entity, wherein the controller determines to which of the first and second service entities the call is directed and selects an agent available to handle the call from the first or second corresponding games of the call receiving agents.

The system of claim 1, wherein the controller includes a memory for queuing calls received from the public telephone network until an agent is available.

The system of claim 1, wherein after receiving the call, the controller sends a call transfer request to a public telephone switch in the public telephone network, and in response to the transfer request called from the controller , the public telephone switch transfers the call from the telephone of an available agent in order to establish a direct telephone connection between the available agent and the public telephone switch.

The system of claim 9, wherein the available agent initiates the transfer of the call to another of the agents, requesting a call transfer on the public telephone switch to the telephone number of the other agent.

The system of claim 2, wherein the controller initially receives the call and establishes the communication path without using a telephone switch other than the public telephone switch.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein for each incoming call received by the controller for the service entity, the controller determines the call handling and execution parameters of the agent for administration of the service entity.

The system of claim 1, wherein the controller includes a means for generating a greeting of voice in response to the call and a means for generating voice prompts to which the calling party may respond before the call is transferred to a call handling agent.

14. A method of distributing automatic calls to receive an incoming telephone call through a public telephone switching network and sending the call to a telephone of one of the multiple call handling agents without the use of a telephone exchange switch. telephone other than the public telephone network switch.

15. The method of claim 14, where a direct telephone connection is established between the switch of the public telephone network and the telephone of an agent.

16. A method for automatically distributing calls to a plurality of call handling agents, comprising the steps of: sending a call to a first service entity from a public communications network to a computer providing call service; selecting an available call handling agent associated with the first service entity to handle the call; and send a command to the public communications network to send the call to a selected call agent. The method of claim 16, further comprising: selecting one of the agents to handle the call based on the current availability status of each of the agents. The method of claim 17, wherein each agent has a computer terminal connected through a data link to a call center computer and each agent indicates availability by admitting an availability command at the terminal of the computer and sending the available availability command through the data link to the call center computer. The method of claim 16, wherein some agents are located in a central service facility and other agents are located in distant facilities, the method further comprising: monitoring a telephone number for each of the agents and sending the calls to the agents both in the central services installation and in the distant installations. The method of claim 16, wherein some of the agents handling calls are associated with a second common service entity, the method further comprising: (a) determining to which of the first and second service entities is directed the call, and (b) select an available agent that corresponds to the service entity determined in step (c) to handle the call. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An automatic call distribution system includes multiple call receiving agents associated with a service entity, each of which has conventional telephone access to the public telephone telecommunication network (PSTN). A call center controller (18) initially receives a communication from the calling subscriber from the PSTN intended for the service entity and selects one of the call receiving agents to handle the calling subscriber's communication based on the availability of the agent. The call center controller (18) coordinates in the establishment of a direct communication path for the call between the PSTN and the selected agent that is independent of the call center controller (18). In other words, after establishing the direct call connection, the call center controller is not an intermediary nor is it otherwise involved in the actual communication between the calling subscriber and the agent. Significantly, the call center controller establishes the connection of the direct call between the incoming call and the agent that handles selected available calls, without the need for a separate private exchange (PBX) or an automatic call distribution switch ( ACD).