ZA200504198B

ZA200504198B - Call centre system

Info

Publication number: ZA200504198B
Application number: ZA200504198A
Authority: ZA
Inventors: Paulo G C De B Nogueira
Original assignee: Equip Securities Consultants P
Priority date: 2004-06-22
Filing date: 2005-05-24
Publication date: 2006-04-26

Description

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CALL CENTRE SYSTEM

Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a call centre system. In particular, the invention relates to a system which improves the efficiency of call centres for both the caller and the call centre.

Background to the Invention

The inventor is aware that presently many companies and institutions employ call centres to provide client services such as technical suppor, information provision, sales and marketing, and complaint logging.

Atypical call centre operation, at the present time, is set out below: - a caller dials a telephone number which may be a toll free number, a shared charges number, a standard charges number, or even a premium charges number, the caller may be calling from a fixed line phone, a mobile phone, or the like; - a call queuing system at the call centre orders the calls into a queue to be answered in the order in which the calls were received;

® EI EE A AEA - an automated call attendant advises the caller that they are in the queue and that their call will be answered, optionally the estimated time to wait before the call is answered may also be provided by the automated call attended; and - an operator answers the call once the queue has advanced and the call comes up first in the queue.

During the above process call charges are being run up while the call is queued, these charges are either for the account of the caller, for the account of the recipient i.e. the call centre, or are shared between the caller and the call centre.

Also, available lines are tied up so that in peak times a situation may arise where a caller cannot even access the queuing system and the call is lost.

Yet further, the caller often has to remain on hold for extended periods of time during which the caller is not productive and becomes irritable. Also, while on hold the caller becomes negatively inclined towards the call centre so that many calls which could have been dealt with amicably if answered immediately become adversarial.

Thus, after a great deal of deliberation and having considered all available technologies and their use in overcoming the above problems at least to a substantial extent, the inventor now proposes the invented system as described below.

In this specification, the term SMS, unless explicitly stated to the contrary, is intended to mean a message sent via a Short Message Service, such as the

SMS system currently known on South African cell phone networks, and includes premium and normal rate SMS messages.

The following definition of Short Message Service, obtained from http://www.w2forum.com/item?2.php/18bc, should be read together with the above paragraph and is not intended to replace the above definition: “Short Message Service: available on digital GSM networks allowing text messages of up to 160 characters to be sent and received via the network operator's message center to your mobile phone, or from the Internet, using a so-called "SMS gateway" website. If the phone is powered off or out of range, messages are stored in the network and are delivered at the next opportunity.”

Furthermore, in this specification, the term “automated attendant” when used in relation to a messaging system or a telephony system is intended to mean a system whereby a caller is prompted by a pre-recorded or computer generated message to select one of several options by pressing one or more keys on their handset or speaking to a voice recognition system, and/or to leave a contact number by pressing keys on their handset corresponding to their number or speaking their number into a voice recognition system. Yet further, a message

® L988 ne gn left using the automated attendant is referred to in the specification as an h automated attendant message. TT

A voice recognition system of the type referred to above is often referred to as an

IVR (Interactive Voice Recognition) system.

Summary of the Invention

The invention provides a call centre system, said system including: - a call centre messaging system; - a call centre server configured to process a user originating message of the type selected from the group including an automated attendant message, a mobile handset originating message such as an SMS, an

MMS or an e-mail, a message derived from an SMS by an SMS conversion server, which message has been received by the call centre from the user, and to generate and transmit an operator message in response thereto to the call centre messaging system, said operator message including at least a contact detail of the user to be contacted ( + the users location using triangulation techniques to better route the message to, for example, a remote ‘call centre operator’; - an operator terminal at which a call centre operator receives operator messages generated by the call centre messaging system; and

- a telephony system configured to permit the call centre operator to call the user in response to the user message.

The automated attendant may be at the call centre or external to the call centre such that the user has to make a premium rated telephone call to the call attendant to make use of the system. In such a case the automated attendant transmits the message to the call centre server in a format required by said call centre server to generate and transmit the operator message.

The call centre server and the call centre messaging system may be combined in a single server.

The system may include a device capable of sending an SMS, such as a GSM mobile telephone, a computer connected to the internet, an SMS gateway server, or the like.

The user message may include a code identifying the service required from the call centre which the call centre server and/or call centre messaging system uses to route the operator message in a predetermined manner to an appropriate call centre operator's operator terminal.

The operator message may be routed to the operator terminal based on location criteria of the services requested.

The user message will include at least one contact detail of the user, for example of the sender of the SMS, such as a telephone number at which the call centre operator can call the sender of the SMS when the call centre operator is available. This contact number may be provided by the GSM or fixed line telephony operator from the sender's caller line 1D (CLID).

The SMS may be a premium rate SMS, the revenue of which may be shared between various parties including but not limited to, a mobile telephone operator, a SMS conversion server operator, the intellectual property rights owner, and others.

In one embodiment, in use, a customer sends an SMS to a specific number associated with the call centre, the SMS includes at least the customer's telephone number on which the customer desires to be called by the call centre.

The SMS may be a premium SMS in which case the SMS includes the premium

SMS code as well as the customer's contact telephone number.

In yet another embodiment, the SMS may include a code relating to the type of service required or department within the call centre to be contacted as well as the customer's contact number and, optionally the premium SMS code.

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The SMS may be sent from a GSM handset in which case the GSM service provider passes the SMS to the service centre SMS server where it is processed according to predefined rules so that a call centre operator will receive a corresponding operator message from the call centre messaging system to call the customer.

The operator messages from the call centre messaging system are distributed such that the operator message is queued for the first available operator.

The first available call centre operator calls the customer thereby obviating the need for the customer to hold on while the customer's call progresses through the queue.

In another embodiment, in use, a user calls a number related to call centre services and the call is answered by an automated attendant which provides the caller with several options including the option to enter a contact number by pressing keys on the user's handset i.e. the user message, the call centre server generates and transmits an operator message in response to the user message and queues the operator message for the first available operator who, upon receipt of the operator message calls the user on their preferred contact number.

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The operator terminal at which a call centre operator receives operator messages generated by the call centre messaging system may be remote from the location at which the call centre server is located.

Thus, the operator may access operator message from a remote location and make the requisite calls either through the call centre telecommunication system or by means of a public telecommunication system.

The telephony system may be an external system which is configured to permit the call centre operator to call the user in response to the user message.

The invention extends to a method of operating a call centre, said method including: - receiving a user originating message selected from the group including an automated attendant message, a mobile handset originating message such as an SMS, an MMS or an e-mail, or a message derived from a user generated SMS; - generating an operator message to a call centre operator terminal requesting a call centre operator to call the customer from whom the user message originated; and - queuing the operator message for distribution to the first available operator; and

Claims

® Claims

1. A call centre system, said system including: - a call centre messaging system; - a call centre server configured to process a user originating message received from the user, said message being of the type selected from the group including: an automated attendant message, a mobile handset originating message a message derived from an SMS by an SMS conversion server; and to generate and transmit an operator message in response thereto to the call centre messaging system, said operator message including at least a contact detail of the user to be contacted; - an operator terminal at which a call centre operator receives operator messages generated by the call centre messaging system; and - a telephony system configured to permit the call centre operator to call the user in response to the user message.

2. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the automated attendant is external to the call centre such that the user has to make a premium rated telephone call to the automated attendant to make use of the system and the automated attendant transmits the message to the call centre server in a format required by said call centre server to generate and transmit the operator message.

3. A system as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the call centre server and the call centre messaging system are combined in a single server.

4. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, including a device capable of sending an SMS.

5. A system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the device is selected from a GSM mobile telephone, a computer connected to the internet, and an SMS gateway server.

6. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the user message includes a code identifying the service required from the call centre which the call centre server and/or call centre messaging system uses to route the operator message in a predetermined manner to an appropriate call centre operator's operator terminal.

7. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the user message includes at least one contact detail of the user.

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8. A system as claimed in claim 8, wherein said contact detail is selected from the CLID of the SMS and a telephone number at which the call centre operator can call the sender of the SMS when the call centre operator is available.

9. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein where the mobile handset originating message is an SMS, the SMS is a premium rate SMS, the revenue of which is shared between two or more parties selected from the group including but not limited to, a mobile telephone network operator, a SMS conversion server operator, and the intellectual property rights owner.

10. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein, in use, a customer sends an SMS to a specific number associated with the call centre, the SMS includes at least the customer's telephone number on which the customer desires to be called by the call centre.

11. A system as claimed in claim 10, wherein the SMS is a premium SMS which includes the premium SMS code as well as the customer's contact telephone number.

12. A system as claimed in claim 10 or claim 11, wherein the SMS includes a code relating to the type of service required or department within the call centre to be contacted.

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13. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein where the mobile handset originating message is an SMS, the SMS is sent from a GSM handset in which case the GSM service provider passes the SMS to the SMS conversion server where it is processed according to predefined rules so that a call centre operator will receive a corresponding operator message from the call centre messaging system to call the customer.

14. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the operator messages from the call centre messaging system are distributed such that the operator message is queued for the first available operator.

15. A system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the first available call centre operator calls the customer thereby obviating the need for the customer to hold on while the customer's call progresses through the queue.

16. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein, in use, a user calls a number related to call centre services and the call is answered by an automated attendant which provides the caller with several options including the option to enter a contact number by pressing keys on the user's handset thereby generating the user originating message, the call centre server generates and transmits an operator message in response to the user originating message and queues the operator message for the first available operator who,

upon receipt of the operator message calls the user on their preferred contact number.

16. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the operator terminal at which a call centre operator receives operator messages generated by the call centre messaging system is remote from the location at which the call centre server is located.

17. A system as claimed in claim 16, wherein the operator accesses a designated operator message from a remote location and makes the requisite calls either through the call centre telecommunication system or by means of a public telecommunication system.

18. A system as claimed in claim 17, wherein the telephony system is an external system which is configured to permit the call centre operator to call the user in response to the user message.

19. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mobile originating message is selected from an SMS, an MMS, and an e-mail.

20. A method of operating a call centre, said method including: - receiving from a customer a user originating message selected from the group including an automated attendant message, a mobile

® handset originating message such as an SMS, an MMS, an e-mail, and a message derived from a user generated SMS; - generating an operator message to a call centre operator terminal requesting a call centre operator to call the customer from whom the user message originated; and - queuing the operator message for distribution to the first available operator; and - contacting the customer when the first available operator receives the operator message.

21. A method as claimed in claim 20, including the prior step of the customer generating the user originating message including at least the customer's contact details which will enable the call centre to call the customer.

22. A method as claimed in claim 21, wherein the customer's contact details are provided by the GSM operator or fixed line telephony operator using caller line ID (CLID).

23. A method as claimed in any one of claims 20 to 22, wherein the user originating message is a premium SMS and includes a premium SMS code.

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24. A method as claimed in any one of claims 20 to 23, which includes routing the operator message to a call centre operator or department requested by the user originating message as indicated by a further code which is identified and acted upon when the user originating message is received.

25. A method as claimed in claim 24, wherein the further code is a service identifier code and/or a location identifier code.

26. A method as claimed in claim 25, wherein the location identifier is provided by the telecommunication network on which the user originating message originated.

27. A system as claimed in claim 1, substantially as herein described and illustrated.

28. A method as claimed in claim 19, substantially as herein described and ilustrated.

29. A new system or a new method substantially as herein described. DATED THIS 24" DAY OF MAY, 2005 H & HAHN INC. gents for Applicant