FI110653B - Resource management in the call center - Google Patents

Description

110653 RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN CALL CENTER

The invention relates to a method for providing telephone exchange services.

In particular, the invention relates to a method for call center service in a call center according to the preamble of claim 6, and to a call center adapted to implement such method.

Indeed, the methods of the invention are mainly used in call centers. Call Center is a system where calls are routed to provide certain services. The Call Center typically has several service personnel 10 (operators) to whom incoming calls are shared. In particular, the methods of the invention are used in call centers providing call forwarding services.

The operation of the call agent is, by and large, well known. Call forwarding functions have been utilized, for example, to forward calls to business exchanges and, in older telephony technology, also to the public telephone network for forwarding to the correct 15 numbers. In a proxy service, calls are typically distributed to multiple mediators and, in the event of a congestion, the calls are put in a queue from which the mediators take calls individually. When the queue fills up, callers will usually be given either a busy tone or: a traffic jam asking you to call again later. It is also possible: in the event of congestion, calls may be routed to another 20 locations within the same company.

• t · * ··· 'Call forwarding is a significant human resource resource, thus generating significant costs for businesses. The problem in particular is that the load on the PBX varies significantly even during normal days. In addition, the PBX is sometimes subject to high, unpredictable 25 peaks due to individual factors influencing the mass behavior of customers. Load fluctuations cause major problems in optimizing HR resources, since too few people cause queuing and blocking at a PBX, while too many people increase unnecessarily high personnel costs.

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Companies have therefore had to find solutions to the above problem.

One option to reduce the staffing costs caused by the call forwarding business is to provide the company PBX with an automatic call forwarding facility. Such an arrangement is disclosed in US 5,799,065.

5 In the patented solution, the enterprise PBX (Private Branch Exchange) system is equipped with a voice recognition system. According to the patent, a call to a switchboard is routed to a speech recognition system if a personal switching service is not available. The voice recognition system receives the call and plays the specified messages on the line. In response to messages, the caller will meet the name of the person 10 he or she seeks to identify in the speech recognition system using speech recognition methods. The voice recognition system associates the common name with the name of the desired company switchboard system and the extension number associated with that name. The voice recognition system then instructs the PBX to route the call to the specified extension.

15 Another alternative to solving a company's telephone exchange problems is outsourcing of call forwarding. Such call center services are offered to their customers by, for example, teleoperators; Elisa • ·: Communications and Sonera. In such a service, calls are answered in the name of the client company (the target company of the call), but the mediation itself is performed by:.:: 20 on the premises and staff of the service provider providing the service. Services of this type '*' * · are becoming increasingly popular and can be provided nationwide.

* · · 'The popularity of Outsourcing functions is influenced by, among others, corporate economic '·· *' and technical and technical / economic reasons. The techno-economic approach is to make it easier for a large brokerage firm to optimize and manage the expensive human resources required for a personal brokerage business.

• t: In an outsourcing solution, PBX management problems are outsourced to 30 service providers. The company managing the Call Center is facing the same problem of resource optimization, but on a larger scale. Similarly, such a company cannot be assisted by the system disclosed in US 5,799,065, as the number of persons sought through a centralized call center is very high. The large number of people causes the risk of error in the person's identification to become too high. Another problem is that in a large group of people there are always several people with the same name.

Another problem with a rigid system such as that disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 5,799,065 is that calls that are very important to the company can be routed to an automated proxy service. Although the automatic proxy service often accomplishes the process of connecting the call to the right person, the service provided by the automatic proxy system is often slower than personal action. In addition, many callers find the personalized service much more pleasant. Thus, it is extremely problematic for the call agent to have the calls addressed to the client company having to be routed to an automatic call center connected to the call center. Em. for reasons that call transfer service providers cannot utilize the system disclosed in US 5,799,065, at least not in the form disclosed in the patent.

The object of the invention is to provide such a system for call centers and; a method which simultaneously; ·. - Enables efficient use of gatekeeper resources I »· 20 - Reduces call center queues and denial of service I · · 20

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- still endeavor to ensure a high level of personalized personal mediation for at least the most important calls.

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The invention is based on the fact that calls to a call center offering centralized PBX services are classified into service categories based on both the A-subscriber's domain and the B-* 25 domain. The call is then provided with a '' PBX service according to service class and call center load, either t '. as a personal service or as an automatic service for voice recognition • ('· ·.

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In call categorization, the B domain is used to determine the service to be provided and to limit the search database to facilitate the speech recognition routine. The B-domain name here refers to the network address of the public telephone network to which the call was made, that is, on the basis of which the call was routed to the call center. Usually, the B-5 domain name is numeric, which is usually referred to as a B-Subscriber number or a called party number.

In classifying a call, the A-subscriber's domain is again used to determine the level of service provided to the call. This classification may take place, for example, between the service classes determined by the selected service based on the B-subscriber number. The purpose of the classification 10 is, with a good probability, to distinguish between the most important calls and the least important calls for the call forwarding function. The domain of an A subscriber is the network address of the calling subscriber. Usually, the A-subscriber's domain is numeric, so it is usually referred to as an A-Subscriber number or a calling party number.

More specifically, the process according to the invention is characterized in what is set forth in claim 1.

. . In particular, the method of the invention relating to call centers is characterized by: as set forth in the characterizing part of claim 6.

The call center system according to the invention, on the other hand, is more precisely defined in claim 17.

• · · * * * * * ·. The invention provides considerable advantages.

The classification of the calls according to the invention according to the domain B ··. 'In the solution according to the invention makes it possible to effectively limit the search set and thereby; · 'Use of a voice recognition automated service in a call center environment.

') M thia 25 Further application of the automatic service in accordance with the invention can: • 9 - enable efficient use of gatekeeper resources »**' * - reduce call center queuing and denial of service 5 110653 - but with a relatively high probability of ensuring that at least most of the calls identified be able to provide a high level of personalized brokerage service.

Efficient use of PBX resources is achieved by the fact that the invention enables the automatic voice recognition based call control service to be integrated into a large call center. In this case, the automatic call routing can be considered as an overflow channel and the number of personal operators can be reduced, as the number of calls to the automatic service can be increased at peak times. The number of personal operators can also be reduced by deflecting some of the calls to the automatic service by default.

The invention can also reduce call queuing and denial of service in the call center, since it is relatively advantageous to reserve additional capacity for automatic control service in case of peak traffic.

In spite of all the above-mentioned significant advantages per se, the solution of the invention 15 is very likely to direct the most important calls to the personal service. This is based on the classification of calls by the A subscriber. . domain and the specific findings related to this classification, which! has been done to analyze the workload of business PBXs.

Many of the calls routed through business PBX originate from. '·: Employees from 20 companies. In our research, we have found that even more than: * Half of the calls routed by the PBX are actually in-house calls. This may be due to the fact that company employees call their colleagues via PBX rather than start searching for their colleague's extension number. Specially ;;; 'When using mobile phones, in-house employees are happy to use a switchboard'; · 25 connectivity services, as mobile phones are often used in places where a business extension list is not available. Thus, in-house employees 1 'account for a significant part of the company's switchboard capacity requirements and thus significantly increase their employer costs. This is despite the fact that · employees generally have accurate information about the subject of the call and therefore do not in fact need 30 high quality personalized call control services.

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Thus, our invention provides inexpensive embodiments in which calls from a company's in-house employees are screened for calls to the company's switchboard service and classified into a lower class of service. In some embodiments, this may mean that calls made from company-owned telephone numbers are always routed first to the auto-forwarding service by default. The great advantage of this is that the number of calls to a personalized call forwarding service can be reduced by up to half without any loss of customer service level. Conversely, customer service levels may even increase as the likelihood of queuing and blocking decreases. In addition, the work motivation of the PBX 10 personal operators may be improved as the share of routine functions in the work decreases and the proportion of more demanding customer service increases.

Thus, our invention has a wide variety of embodiments in which calls to a call agent can be routed between personal service and automated service based on different control criteria. Possible control criteria include, for example, the length of the proxy service queue 15, the call time, and the origin of the call (e.g., internal / external call breakdown). In addition, the system may, in some embodiments, have a "lunch switch" which, when turned on, directs all calls to the auto attendant.

: V In addition to the control criterion, call routing can also be affected by the •, j. · By priority categories defined by origin. Priority categories can be:, i 20 defined per customer, since calls are also categorized as 'B domain'. by. Priority categories for any customer service company with a switching service may include, but are not limited to, the following: »1. outbound call 2. home outbound call (outbound call = 25 from outside the company);

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,, ..: 3. Internal call, that is, a call from a business number

Calls can be shared between an ATM and personal operators

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:, '· · In order of priority categories, for example: - Class 1 calls are always routed to the personal service 7 110653 - Class 2 calls are routed to the personal service if at least a predetermined number of personal operators are available, and otherwise the calls are routed to the automated service - Class 3 calls are always routed to an automatic service.

5 Depending on the embodiment and the needs of the client company, the number of priority classes can be varied. Thus, unlike the previous example, there may be, for example, four, five or six priority classes, but always at least two. Of course, along with such multi-class services, some routines that do not have a priority classification, that is to say, only one of the 10 priority categories, can be used as needed. Also, the service to be performed for calls of each priority class can be defined in many different ways. For example, in the example above, it could just as well be defined that class 1 calls are routed to a personal service, if at least one personal operator is currently idle, and otherwise the call is routed to an automated service. For class 3 calls, on the other hand, it could be defined that the calls are routed to the personal service, provided that there is at least a certain predetermined number of personal operators available, which is naturally defined above the corresponding number set for class 2.

* · *: Otherwise, calls would be routed to the automatic service.

«• t» ♦ '*, It should also be noted that one call center can produce very much at a time * · i' | 20 different services for different customers. Thus, each business customer can * · * - / implement their own call forwarding service.

Ilg * · a ,, «* In embodiments of the invention, priority classes can be defined, e.g., by means of tables. The classification may be carried out using, for example, the A-number of the caller or other suitable information transmitted in the signaling of the telephone network. Such information may be, for example, information i »· r» 25 whether it is a domestic call or an international call. If the A-number or the identifier »'Σ' * · * is not available, the call can be interpreted as belonging, for example, to the international call category *" ·.

»« * I »| It may also be possible to classify certain calls according to a higher priority based on an A number or other similar identifier, whereby the call is usually routed to a personal agent. Such a definition can be made e.g. VIP-8 for 110653 customers. You can also increase the priority level for calls made from, for example, an analog mobile phone or a VoIP network, as the voice recognition program may not be able to cope with the recognition due to poor quality of the telephone connection.

In some preferred embodiments of the invention, the proxy database is connected via a data network to a database of client companies, from which batch data may be updated. Such information includes, for example, the names and telephone numbers of people in the company's gear business, as well as information about holidays, absences, or other matters that may be brought to the attention of customers. This also allows you to maintain voice samples of each employee's name.

Still further, in some preferred embodiments of the invention, statistical information on speech recognition functionality can be sent from the proxy database to the client company, e.g., how many percent of the calls have been successful in speech recognition. In addition, even unrecognized audio files can be sent to the client to improve recognition of, for example, difficult-to-pronounce names.

Further, in some preferred embodiments of the invention, the client company may be provided with its own user interface for a service enabling it to make changes to the proxy settings and, in particular, to provide voice samples for speech recognition, if required by the speech recognition method used. You can also make changes to the VPN network settings using the same user interface. Still • · t • · · 'I'! Through the same 20 interfaces, the client company can scan unrecognized audio files.

L. 1 Such audio files can be stored in the system, for example, when a call has been made to an employee of the client company t ', which is not processed for any reason * ♦

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successful.

The invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

*. Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of one method of the invention and the related. systems environment.

Fig. 2 is a flow chart of another method according to the invention.

Figure 3 is a flow chart of one of the classification methods of the invention.

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Figures 4-7 are flow charts of call control processes that may be used in the methods of the invention.

Figure 1 illustrates a terminal device (TD) of a landline telephone which is connected to a public telephone network via LE (local exchange). The LE 5 is still connected to the SSP (service switching point), which in turn is controlled by the SCP (service control point). Further, the system environment of the figure comprises an SDB (service data base) from which the SCP can retrieve the parameters needed for call routing. Further, the pattern system comprises an IP (Intelligent Peripheral) which communicates with 10 DB, SSP and SCP and which is responsible for automatic target interface selection, and in particular speech recognition. For voice recognition, VRP (Voice Recognition Software) is attached to the IP. Further, the figure shows a DN (data network) through which the DB can communicate with the databases of the service client companies DB1, DB2 and DB3.

Figure 1 also illustrates the steps that can be taken when routing calls through the system. The following describes the call control procedures in more detail.

: '. * In the example of Fig. 1, the service user communicates with the call control service via TD and through a '- ·' communication network supporting voice transmission (step 1). The call is routed; 20 network via SSP (step 2) by any suitable known method, e.g.

• * · using TDP 3 triggering based on the dialed number or any other suitable * t ;;; intelligent network triggering, e.g., TDP 12 triggering. Upon receiving the call, the S SP establishes a service request to the SCP via the INAP protocol (step 3 - first direction). In the SCP, the service can be identified eg by the number of the selected caller and the selected destination number. 25 basis. This results in a service logic in the SCP, which results in: • the SCP requesting (Step 3 - the other direction) the SSP to connect the call.

·, ·· '; For call routing help, the SCP program checks to see if there is a setting that: redirects the call to the auto attendant. If not, the call is routed to a personal agent.

• * · •. A: If the auto-switch control is '' conditional '' (eg triggered by the length of the queue), 30 proceeds to further analyze the call. The call is routed to a location according to the 10 110653 priority class (e.g. 1/2/3) of origin. If the autopilot is "on" (eg, lunch time), all calls will be routed to the auto attendant.

If the call belongs to a specific class, the SSP will remain monitoring the call. In this case, the SSP will wait to see if the call is answered by the personal agent. If there is congestion in the 5 personalization service, in which case the call is not answered for a certain period of time, e.g. 10 seconds, the call control is transferred back to the SCP. In this case, the SCP instructs the SSP to route the call to the auto attendant.

When the call requires an automatic proxy service, the call (step 4) is routed to the IP connected to the intelligent network. At the same time, the SCP establishes a logical INAP connection (step 5) with IP 10.

Now, the external IP advantageously gives the caller a message specified by the SCP and proceeds to receive data from the connection. In preferred embodiments, this data is speech that has been converted into digital form on the network. In the case of IP, there is a speech recognition software VRP, which is able to form corresponding words from the "" speech data "coming from the connection. The VRP compares the words it generates with the data in the external service database DB (step 7a). Because the method uses call classification based on the B domain, a comparison can be made with the data in the * · 'DB enterprise specific directory. If the program finds 'matches' between these data, it will give the resulting matches a signaling connection *; 20 (step 5) to SCPr. SCP retrieves from DB the target number corresponding to the name (step 7b) • · ·

; ,, 1 and ask the SSP to connect the call to the given destination number (step 8). At the same time SCP

• ·; 1 * tells the SSP to disconnect to the external IP.

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In the rigid system of Figure 1, the update of the name and personal data to the database DB: connected to the telecommunication network can be conveniently performed via the data network (step 9) in batch runs ... 25 from the companies own databases DB 1, DB2 and DB3 (steps 9a, 9b, 9c).

When an end customer calls a business proxy number or clicks on a voice connection. from a corporate web or wap page or portal, the connection is made through a public '·': telecommunication network to a control service that provides call control to the • business proxy. Calls to the business agent number are routed through a service on the network 30, whereupon the application is typically controlled by an application in the SCP of the intelligent network (or 11,110,653). The SCP then discusses the routing of the call with the network switching server (typically the SSP).

Thus, calls are not routed routinely from the telecommunication network directly to the subscriptions of the company where the relay service is traditionally implemented, but to the control service 5 implemented in the intelligent network. In addition to the proxy service provided by a normal person, the entity also has another alternative control: the auto proxy service.

Calls to the business agent number are divided into at least two different priority categories according to the origin of the call. Priority categories can be, for example, the following: 1) Incoming calls from abroad 10 2) Outgoing domestic calls 3) In-house calls These categories are used to determine the default destination for call control. In addition, in the event of congestion, lower priority calls may be routed first to the automated agent instead of to the human agent. When the queue is full, the next 15 priority calls will be routed to the automat, etc. The last one will be routed to the automat here •. ·. in the case of calls from abroad.

To identify the origin of a call, you can use an A number or similar: · · 'in the network signaling identifier. For example, in international calls, the '·': A number is often not received. In this case, the call can be interpreted on the basis of the missing A-number 20. Another option is to use a suitable field in the signaling of the telephone network, which can be used to mark international calls to the international telephone exchange. In practice, in situations of uncertainty, it is safer to interpret the call! *. according to a higher priority and refer it primarily to the personal agent.

: One possible control is as follows: 25 Class 1 calls are always routed to a person-handled proxy, •. ' ·: Class 2 calls are routed primarily to the personal agent, but in the event of congestion they are routed to the automated agent. Class 3 calls are routed primarily to an automated service, from where calls can be routed to a personal agent.

12 110653 In addition, all calls can be routed to an automated machine when needed, when the proxy service is not available. Such situations could include: - Evening hours - Holidays 5 - Brokerage technical failure - Lunch break

Control takes place in a program in SCP. The proxy manager can change the control (settings, database information) using, for example, a telephone interface or a web or wap interface.

10 The service database may be linked to a client database such that the client database updates the information in the network database. Updates include: company names and corresponding telephone numbers (wire + GSM, etc.), possibly departments and titles, etc. In addition, real-time information about the status of the company's network proxy can be updated, eg queue length, etc. name.

. ·: From the service database, statistics can be sent to the customer database: · 'on speech recognition functionality (eg how many percent of calls have been i: successfully identified). In addition, even unrecognized audio files can be sent: · towards the client to improve recognition of eg difficult to pronounce names.

. * 20 In this case, the customer may self-examine the audio file that failed to parse the voice recognition and make one or more additional audio samples and add them to the existing database for that name in the service database ;; *

Thus, a number of different criteria may trigger a call routing for an auto broker.

..,.: 25 All of these can be customized, either in the SCP database or in the SCP. '. used by an external network database (e.g., DB of Figure 1).

: / ·· As the call goes to the auto-forwarding service, it is routed to the hardware connected to the intelligent network (in this description, the IP of the intelligent network) with a voice recognition application attached.

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The voice recognition application receives the call, analyzes the caller's speech and forms a string, and retrieves the most closely related information in the company-specific part of the service database, which in this case is the person's name. This name corresponds to the company number in the SCP database or external database that is used to route 5 calls to the desired destination.

As a speech recognition application itself, any suitable speech recognition software can be used in the system of the invention. One alternative is to use the system disclosed in US Patent 5,799,065, cited above. Em. in a rigid system, the person's name is found on the program. However, nowadays there are already quite good 10 speech recognition systems available for recognizing whole words. The advantage of such a program is that the caller can pronounce the subject's name in the same way as a gear operator. Such speech recognition programs are provided, for example, by Philips.

Speech recognition is preferably implemented by performing part of the analysis on the service database SDB (step 7a in Figure 1), as there are voice samples of the names of all employees of all client companies.

However, when analyzing a voice sample, it is utilized to know that the name spoken in speech recognition refers to employees of a particular company. This; j ,: greatly facilitates the analysis, because even if there are hundreds of companies within the service::: 20 and tens of thousands of recognizable names, even if vaguely pronounced, a certain '. 1: The name can be linked to the correct information when it is known that there are 50 employees in a particular company ''.

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The proposed method can easily be applied to companies outsourcing their PBX services to telecom operators. In this case, the companies' own databases' ': 25 will periodically retrieve information for the service's own master database SDB. In this case ....: the number range of the company and its use, and the number of persons employed by the company ...: the numbers and names can vary greatly, and yet the call forwarding service. '. can always be provided with the right information. Of course, for the telecom operator providing the service, this offers a major cost advantage and allows it to expand its market share 30 competitively. A significant advantage arises among others. that customer company staff and their 14 110653 subscription numbers are constantly changing. In this case, current technologies cannot update data fast enough for voice recognition to work reliably in an outsourced service.

Also, current products and technologies do not allow for the flexible integration of new client companies into the Voice Recognition Service. The solutions presented in this application, on the other hand, are relatively easy to bring into the system.

The systems and methods exemplified above can be varied in a number of ways.

10 For example, a program in an IP device may, in addition to retrieving a destination name from received voice data, retrieve from the database the telephone number (or other similar destination address) of the telecommunication network corresponding to the name, and notify the SCP of the call. Thus, compared to the example of Figure 1, method step 7b is saved, i.e., the SCP does not have to separately query the target number. In this case, the SCP does not even need to know the name of the target person.

Another possibility is to set the application on the IP to directly control the SSP. Then the IP could directly, without a new SCP link, tell the SSP to switch! call to the resolved destination number. This arrangement could reduce SCP; load.

Instead of a public telecommunication network, the disclosure mentions a "" telecommunication network supporting speech transmission ", since the operation according to the invention can be arranged in any kind of" ··· * telecommunication network, where centralized control functions separate from call switching are available. In addition, the network used must support the requirements for real-time speech transmission at least sufficiently, '; '25 that the speech recognition application can interpret words transmitted across the network. Such a network '' may be, for example, a VoIP network with QoS capabilities. The call control center can then be the SCP of the intelligent network (if, for example, the VoIP switching center is connected to the SCP exchange of the intelligent network by means of # «· / ·· INAP signaling), or another IP server corresponding to the SCP.

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Figure 2 outlines one possible arrangement for handling an incoming call to a call center. The call is routed to the call center based on a specific B number. The B number can be, for example, the exchange number of the company connected to the gear service. The B number can also be the extension number of the company from which the call was transferred. In the case of a transfer, the number of the 5 companies can be so-called. C-number. In any case, when the call arrives at the call center, the call is classified based on the destination of the call (block 21). The call is then identified as belonging to a particular service on the basis of its B or C number. The B-number based service is the simplest. In this case, the call center recognizes a call as belonging to a particular company's PBX service only when call 10 is originally dialed to that company's PBX, i.e. the B number is the PBX of the company.

Alternatively, calls can also be made to the PBX service.

For example, a company may have multiple B-numbers, to which calls are routed to the same call center service. Also, a call 15 transferred from a corporate extension can be routed to a company outsourced PBX service, whereby the call can be identified by either a B number by comparing the call with a B number list or a C number. In a B-numbered solution, the B-number list must include all extensions, so implementation can easily become heavy. On the other hand, it may be possible that most B-numbers have the same leading part, whereby the list 20 can be significantly shortened. When using a C number, the C number may be a business · · number or another number to which incoming calls are routed to their own. '·· service. Such a service can be implemented in such a way that all · · .. · incoming calls to the service are forwarded calls, so that further processing of calls can be selected to be optimized for forwarded calls ... *. Thus, the same company can have several different 25 proxy services in one outsourced call center.

· "*. Once the call has been classified, the service corresponding to the classification is started (block 22). This]. thereafter, the call is routed according to the service configuration. In some cases, the service may be defined such that all incoming calls to the service are routed directly to a specific number or service location, e.g., a personalized proxy service; ; 30 to an automated broker or messenger. In most cases, however, the service comprises call analysis and further classification (block 23). In this classification 16 110653, each call is assigned a priority class, according to which settings the call is further processed. After setting the priority class, the process corresponding to the priority class is started (block 24). In the example of Figure 2, the call has come to a service with four different priority classes. Had the call 5 been dialed to another B number, another service could have been selected in block 21 and the number of possible priority classes for the call could have been different. The number of priority classes can thus be freely selected according to the desired service characteristics. There may also be one priority class, but the system must also include services where there are at least two priority classes.

Figure 3 illustrates in more detail one possible priority class assignment process that may be implemented, e.g., in block 23 of Figure 2. When a call enters the process, it is first checked in block 31 whether the caller's A number has been transmitted with the call.

If the A-number is not forwarded, the call is routed to 15 processing according to priority class P2. Failure to forward an A number may be due, for example, to an incoming call from abroad. The call may also originate from a secret number. If an A number was identified, the call is routed to block 32. In block 32, it is checked whether the A number is found in the company's VIP list. If the A-number is found in the VIP list, ': the call is routed to the VIP service whose priority class in this example is Pl. If; 20 The A number was not on the VIP list, in block 33 a further check is made to determine whether the call »·: originates from abroad. The verification may be carried out, for example, on the basis of the A-number or: '.

> tt In the case of an international call, call processing is routed to a process of priority class P2 ,,. If, on the other hand, the call did not originate from overseas, it will be checked whether 25 is the company's own extension number. If the calling number is a company number, the call handling is routed to a priority class P4 process. In all other • *. In such cases, the call is routed to a priority class P3 process.

! »· · · • ·. Figures 4-7 show some possible processes related to priority classes.

The processes of Figures 4-7 may be used, e.g., the process of Figures 2 and 3; '; 30, but the application of the processes of Figures 4-7 is by no means limited to the methods of Figures 2 and 3. Also, the application of the methods 110 1103 of Figures 2 and 3 is not limited to the processes depicted in Figures 4-7. However, in the following, the processes of Figures 4-7 will be described as being part of the methods of Figures 2 and 3.

Figure 4 illustrates the control of calls of the priority class P1. Thus, in these 5 examples, these calls are VIP calls and are intended to provide the best possible service. This primarily means a personalized proxy service. However, if the personal service has a long queue, the VIP client can be directed to the automated service so that queuing does not take an undue amount of time. Of course, this possibility can be reduced by defining a queue for personalized service for VIP-10 customers, which is first cleared when operators become available. Only when all VIP clients are routed from the queue to the service will calls be routed from the standard queue to the operators. In the example of Figure 4, in block 41, a query is made to determine the length of the queue. Thus, depending on the embodiment, the length of the queue to be resolved can be either the length of the VIP queue or the length of the general queue, if no separate VIP queue is specified. If there are fewer calls in the queue than the preset number Q1, the call is routed to the personal service (block 42). If, on the other hand, the queue is too long, the call will be routed to an automatic machine (block 43).

Figure 5 illustrates the control of calls of priority class P2. These calls are thus: · In the example, mainly international calls and calls made from secret numbers.

• »· t *; * 20 The purpose of these calls is to provide personalized service, as in international calls

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'; * · Voice recognition is expected to be less effective than other calls. This I I »» t · is due e.g. phone quality and possible language issues. However il! if the personal service has a very long queue, the call can be routed to an automated service. In the example of Figure 5, in block 51, a query is made to determine the length of ··. 25 queues. The queue used can be a general queue, or for international calls it may have its own queue, which is intended to decode the queue defined for domestic calls »k · *. faster and with the aim of routing calls to the most proficient languages * I · · ·

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. operators. If there are fewer calls in the queue used than pre-I I * * · • «. a set number Q2, the call is routed to the personal service (block 52). If the queue is too long, the call is routed to the automaton (block 53).

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Figure 6 illustrates the call control of the priority class P3. Thus, in this example, these calls are calls that do not belong to the other categories, ie mainly domestic calls from outside the company. In this group, the probability of an automatic proxy being successful is relatively good. However, this group would be offered 5 personalized services, if available. However, the service provided to this group should not impair the service of calls belonging to groups P1 and P2. Here, for example, one can proceed as follows. In block 61, a query is made to determine the number of free operators and to make a comparison. If there are more free operators than the preset number V3, the call is routed to 10 personal services (block 62). If, on the other hand, there are fewer free operators, the call is routed to the automaton (block 63). V3 can also be set to zero, whereby the call is routed to the personal service, if one operator is free to receive the call.

Figure 7 illustrates the call control of the priority class P4. These calls are the calls made from the company owning 15 switchboard services. This group has the highest probability of success of an automatic proxy service, and calls in this group do not want to be burdened with personal service. Thus, all calls are routed directly to the dispenser (block 71).

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Thus, the arrangement of FIGS. 2-7 may divide calls between the personal and '··' 20 automatic call forwarding resources so that the service level t · * * of the call forwarding service does not suffer, but rather is improved by the shortening queue times.

»· I * .. * Also, the potential failure of autodetection in some situations does not pose a major problem if the service is equipped with a function that redirects the call to the operator in the event of the autodetection failure.

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Claims (21)

1. Method of providing telephone exchange services, wherein the method of incoming calls to a telephone exchange service is classified into service classes and thereafter the calls are offered to telephone exchange services, characterized in that the calls are classified into service classes both on the basis of the A subscriber's network identification and B network identification. the calls are offered by telephone exchange services according to specific service classes and the load of the telephone exchange service either as a personal service or an automatic service. 10 Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the automatic service utilizes an automatic speech identification method. Method according to claim 2, characterized by the B-network identification 15 being used to determine the service to be offered and to limit a · φ: search database to facilitate the speech identification routine. * * · M # • m · • · • · • · · • · 4 • » Method according to any of claims 1-3, characterized in that the subscriber's network identification is used to determine the service level to be given the call. »· *» * I · · • · • · · • t 5. Method according to any of claims 1-4, characterized in that the subscriber's network identification is compared with a network identification list, which is formed by the exchange identification service company's own connections' network identifications, and unless a * · · · The corresponding identification for the A-subscriber's network identification can be found on the list in · * »· a telephone exchange service is provided primarily as an automatic service, saving personal resources for servicing calls coming from the company's own company. 110653 A method for a telephone switching service realized in a call center, at which telephone switching service provides at least two different switching services, which can be determined customer-specific, comprising the following steps: - a call made to a customer's network address is received; 5. the object address of the received call. is identified, and - on the basis of the identified object address, an exchange service for the call is selected, characterized in that the selected exchange service comprises at least two priority classes, where the calls in at least one priority class are primarily directed to an automatic service resource, and at least in another priority class, and first hand to a person-controlled resource, and in the selected switching service: - the call's A-net address is analyzed, - on the basis of an analysis of the A-net address, the call is classified into one of the priority classes that the switching service comprises, - a control process in accordance with and the Alets priority classification is päböijas, and the '· *: 15 - call is guided in accordance with the péböijad control process to a specific service resource. I · · «« · • »» • »• ·» · · • »·» ♦ Method according to claim 6, characterized in that the object address of the call • * *: ,,. · Consists of the B-address of the call. »T« • · <· »« · i * »· · '* *' 20 Method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the call t · •; · * Object address is the C-address of the call. • · i> · • · · «% lit» »I · II» • j 9. Method according to any of claims 6-8, characterized in that the call * ': "' automatic service resource consists of a speech identification program. 110653 10. A method according to claim 9, characterized in that, in order to facilitate speech identification, a name database on the basis of a selected exchange service is limited in such a way that a customer-specific name database is selected for the call and by means of a speech identification program the received name information is compared with this. customer-specific 5 name database. Method according to claim 10, characterized in that the customer is offered a user interface for updating their own germ-specific name database. 10 Method according to any of claims 6-11, characterized in that the calls whose A-net address cannot be analyzed are classified in a certain priority class. Method according to any of claims 6-12, characterized in that calls coming from abroad are classified in a certain priority class. ·. *. 15 • · · Method according to any of claims 6-13, characterized in that A-; *; the net address is compared to an A-net address list, and unless the A-net address is found on the list, the call is classified in a certain priority class. • · • · • · • tl: 20 Method according to claim 14, characterized in that the A-net address is compared. · * ·. with a list formed by the A-network addresses that the telephone switching service subscriber holds,. automatic service resource. • · • · · • · I I 25 16. A method according to claim 14, characterized in that the A-network address is compared with a list formed by the A-network addresses which the telephone switching service subscriber considers to be the most important, and unless the A-network address is found on the list, the call is primarily directed to a person-controlled resource. A call center system characterized by the logic means for implementing a method according to any of claims 6-16. 18. A system according to claim 17, characterized in that it comprises an automatic speech recognition device for identifying the name of the call subject person. 19. A system according to claim 18, characterized in that it comprises database means for comparing the name identified by the voice identification device with customer-specific databases. 20. System according to claim 19, characterized in that it comprises •. Communication and update means for updating on the basis of customer companies' own databases of the customer-specific databases stored in the database means. «· * · · • · · • · • · · • · · •» • »• ♦ ;;; 21. A system according to any of claims 17-20, characterized in that it comprises • means for providing the customer with a user interface for updating their own. • · 1 • »• · · • · • 1 * 1 1 t 1 · · · • · • · ·» ♦