FI119674B - Procedure, mediation system and service request analyzer for checking calls and messages - Google Patents

Description

A method, relay system, and service request analyzer for managing calls and messages

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates generally to the transmission and management of messages and calls, in particular the transmission of text messages to a business number.

Technology background

A few prior art solutions for controlling the message traffic of a company 10 are known. Short messages (SMS) are usually called short messages or text messages. In addition to SMS, the company's messaging services increasingly include MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) messages. In addition to SMS content, MMS messages may include pictures, graphics, sound and audio clips, and in the future 15 may include video clips. SMS, MMS and e-mail are typical examples of the messages to which the invention relates.

Solutions based on mobile network number or short message service number have been in use for many years. In Finland, short message service numbers are grouped by prefix, that is, the beginning of the number 20, as shown in the following table:

Prefix_Useful__ 100 Teleservice Services 12x (x = 1-6) Reserved Numbers 25 13x (x = 1-5) Utilities 140-150 Telecom Services 16x (x = 1-5) Online Services 171-173 Entertainment 179 Adult Entertainment Services 30 18x (x) 1-5) Free Services

The term "12x (x = 1-6)" used in the table means that the reserved numbers contain the prefix 121, 122, 123, 124, 125 or 126.

FIG. 1 illustrates call routing according to the prior art IN (Intelligent Network) 35. The customer dials the 010 company number starting with 101 on his phone, for example, 01022222233.

2

The call is forwarded through the exchange 102 to the Service Switching Point (SSP) 103. A trigger is set at the Service Switching Point 103 to continue processing the call at the Service Control Point (SCP) 104, 5 where a particular IN is triggered. service, such as the Follow Me service.

Initially, it is assumed that the initiated IN service redirects the call through a fixed network 105 exchange 106 to a specific company extension 107. The telephone number for extension 107 is 01022222233. While in the office, a company employee (customer service) can answer 10 calls through extension 107 and serve the customer. Let's then assume that a company employee is out of the office. It is further assumed that he has used the IN service to connect his extension telephone number 01022222233 to the telephone number 05012345 of the mobile station 109 he is using. In this case, the IN service, which is located in the SCP 104, changes the call recipient number. Specifically, the number 01022222233 of extension 107 is replaced by 05012345, after which the call is routed through mobile network 108 to the mobile worker 109 of the company.

Thus, calls can be conveniently routed to either a fixed network subscription or a mobile subscription.

20 In addition to making calls, it is important for companies to manage email and short message traffic. The applicant (Elisa) is a telecommunications operator and offers various types of short message services for business purposes. The following describes Elisa's services in question.

With Elisa's Communication Solution (TVR), 25 short messages can be transmitted to as many people at a time as desired. Short messages can be forwarded bidirectionally between Elisa's subscriptions and parallel to the subscriptions of other telecommunications operators.

A service called '' Messaging Broker '' allows two-way communication of short messages between subscriptions of different telecommunications operators. In addition, through the 30 Messaging Broker, messages can be routed independently of the operator's connection to the service provider's system and vice versa.

The third example of a short messaging service for business use is Elisa's Office Solution, which allows 35 employees of a company to access corporate email on their mobile phones. Elisa 3

The office solution is operator-independent and can be used via short messages if needed.

In addition to the services mentioned above, the prior art incorporates the system disclosed in Fl 105305. This system is for routing 5 short messages to a virtual subscriber number. Alternatively, the system may route the short message to a customer-specific vpn subscriber number (Virtual Private Network).

The prior art described above has several drawbacks.

First, the cost of a telephone connection is relatively high 10 if the employees of the company have two telephone numbers, one for talking and one for handling short messages. In other words, the person's 010 number is for speech only and another number, i.e. the mobile number, is also for receiving and sending short messages.

15 Secondly, it may be difficult for the company's customers to remember both telephone numbers of the person employed by the company.

Thirdly, short message processing, which is separate from business numbers, is difficult for the company to coordinate. This is especially true for the company's customer service, which receives customer service requests and forwards them. When gatekeepers or similar customer service personnel are required to receive service requests through two different "channels", it is difficult or impossible for them to know which person in the company is currently free to respond to a customer's service request.

FIGURE 2 illustrates a problem with customer service.

Client 201 makes a call 202 to a specific business number (010 prefix). In customer service, the operator 203 receives a call 202 and connects it to the company customer service 204 because the telephone line, or extension 205, used by the customer service 204 is free. Even though extension 205 is free, customer service 204 cannot for the time being serve customer 201 because he is just finishing short message 208 to be sent to customer 207 on his mobile station 206. Thus, the problem is that PBX 203 only manages service requests (calls) over fixed network 209. He cannot manage service requests through the mobile communication network 210, such as short messages.

4

In addition to calls and short messages, it is also important for companies to manage other types of service requests. However, the tools suitable for such a task are lacking in the prior art.

5 Brief Summary of the Invention

The overall object of the invention is to control the telephone and messaging of an organization such as a company. Video calls and faxes can also be included in the calls as they are transmitted over a switched connection.

The method of the invention is for managing service requests sent through at least one telecommunication network according to the preamble of claim 10, wherein the service requests include fixed and mobile phone calls to an individual organization and SMS, short message, SMS and / or MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) 15 phone numbers. The method used in the prior art relay system receives a notification of an incoming service request, reads information related to said calls and reads information related to said messages.

Further, according to the characterizing part of claim 1, based on the read, call and message related information, and the availability service information, the service request processing method, the accessibility service information disclosing, from which network addresses, including telephone numbers and computer network addresses, are accessed by customer service providers.

The invention further comprises a relay system for processing a short message, text message, SMS (Short Messaging Service) or MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) type message, the message being for a particular customer service, the relay system comprising at least a memory and an interface unit a recipient information associated with the message 30, which is a telephone number, to determine the set of terminals formed by the at least one terminal.

In accordance with the characterizing part of claim 8, the relay system is further adapted to initiate, through the interface unit, a search process using said recipient information as a search key for a predetermined set of information systems, the information set comprising an availability server implementing the availability service.

As a result of the retrieval process, the relay system receives information on the short message and / or MMS messages addressed to the terminal set and at least 5 of the following information: information on the connection sets on the terminal set, information on the email set addressed to the terminal set and redirecting each terminal unit.

On the basis of the information received, the relay system selects the personal processing method of the message, the personal processing method 10 being a processing method defined by a particular client server through the availability service interface in memory

List of figures

In the following, the invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic figures 15, of which Figure 1 illustrates prior art call control, Figure 2 illustrates a customer service problem, Figure 3 illustrates a method for managing service requests, FIG. 5B illustrates a proxy system for processing an outgoing message; FIG. 5C illustrates a proxy system operation; FIG. 6 illustrates a proxy system implemented in an SCP; FIG. 7 illustrates a proxy system implemented in an intelligent database system; FIG. 8 illustrates a server proxy system.

Detailed Description of the Invention

The invention presents several advantages and possibilities which are missing from the prior art.

By means of the invention, for example, a telecommunications operator can provide a company with a single customer service number beginning with 010, to which both calls and 35 short messages can be sent. As a result, business customers need only remember one phone number.

6

When a company has hundreds of employees, working with the prior art may require hundreds of short message numbers. As an example of short message numbers, the number 140123 may be mentioned. The invention is also useful with respect to the sufficiency of number space 5. For example, numbers beginning with 140 are released when some of the current 140 short message numbers are replaced with 010 numbers.

By means of the invention, the customer can, instead of calling, send an SMS message to his / her bank advisor to the number beginning with 010 when seeking that bank advisor. Talking on the phone is not always necessary 10, but it can also be done via SMS.

If the client wants to talk to his / her bank advisor but does not reach him / her, the client can be given a so-called. Auto Answer. An autoresponder is, for example, a text message to the number from which a customer was trying to reach their bank advisor. For example, a text message may indicate that 15 bank counselors are on vacation or in a meeting. Or it may include the contact details of a colleague working for a bank advisor.

A language recognition feature may be implemented in the delivery system of the invention. In this case, the system examines the content of the text message received from the customer, identifies the author of the text message in the mother tongue, and selects 20 customer service personnel according to the identified native language. It is also possible to implement in the relay system some other identification feature related to the content of the message.

An advantage of the invention is that it enables the work routine of a corporate customer servant to be taken into account. With 25 phones currently talking to customer service, there is no reason to be interrupted by messages. In this case, work-related emails, SMS, MMS messages and / or faxes can only be delivered to the terminal used by the customer service provider after his call has ended. More specifically, the messages can be placed in a logical or physical service request queue.

30 It is possible to prioritize messages in the service request queue based on the sender's phone number. In this case, the messages of the main clients are routed to the terminal used by the client server before the messages of other clients.

It is known that incoming calls can be routed to the desired number 35, for example, via the Follow Me service. In the relay system according to the invention, some of the service requests are calls and some are messages. System 7 also allows messages to be re-routed. For example, text messages addressed to a particular mobile number may be redirected to another mobile number or e-mail addressed to a specific email address may be redirected to another email address. These 5 features are useful, for example, during a customer service lunch break and during a customer service holiday.

Compared to calls, text messages and e-mails offer the advantage that their content on a computer is technically smoother than call processing. Recording messages can be useful for a variety of reasons. Possible causes include statistics, customer surveys based on statistics, or dispute resolution.

Generally speaking, the invention allows simultaneous and centralized control, i.e. from a single point, to both incoming calls and messages. The invention comprises a method, a relay system, and a service request analyzer 15, the first of which is a method described.

FIG. 3 illustrates a method for managing service requests. The method is for managing service requests sent through at least one telecommunications network, the service request including calls and messages addressed to an individual organization. The method 20 comprises the steps of receiving a notification 301 of an incoming service request and reading 302 information relating to said calls in response to the notification. The method further comprises the steps of reading 303 information related to said messages and selecting a service request processing method based on the information related to calls and messages read by the relay system 304. The company is one, but not the only example of an organization. Service requests received by the organization, which are telephone calls, have traditionally been managed through, for example, a PBX. Nowadays, some service requests have different types of messages. The method aims to smoothly handle all service requests, regardless of the form in which the service request is made.

The aforementioned accessibility service contains information, for example, on the status of the customer service staff and the telephone numbers where they can be reached. The availability service information is generally information entered into the memory / database by the customer service personnel through the 35 accessibility services user interfaces. For example, a customer service representative can announce via the interface that he is currently on a lunch break and will not receive 8 service requests until after his lunch break. Similarly, when leaving for a business trip, the customer service representative may indicate the mobile number that he or she will reach during the business trip. The availability service allows information to be shared between, for example, customer service providers, 5 customers, and service request recipients, such as PBX operators.

The following refinements and options relate to the service request handling method selection performed in step 304 of the method. In addition to the information received in method steps 302 and 303, the service request processing selection may be based on the availability information available through the accessibility service used by the organization. In addition, or alternatively, the choice of the method for processing a service request may be based on information about the content of the service request, which is available in so-called. palvelupyyntöanalysaattorista. The service request analyzer will be discussed in detail below.

The service request processing method typically includes at least one of the following actions: directing the service request to a predetermined hardware, delaying the transmission of the service request for a predetermined time, prioritizing the service request, placing the service request in a queue.

Thus, in the first step 301 of the method, 20 notifications of an incoming service request are received. It is also possible that in the first step of the method, the service request itself is received.

The service request or related notification must include the information required by the method. Such information is, for example, the sender and recipient of the service request. The type of service request is also important information.

When a service request is a call, the call type is either a voice call, a video call, or a fax. Similarly, when a service request is a message, the message type is one of the following: SMS, Short Message, SMS, MMS, or Email.

The method of processing a service request 30 performed in step 304 of the method includes, if necessary, a step of converting the service request into either a particular type of message or a particular type of call. It is technically possible to convert text to speech and speech can be converted to text by speech recognition. Some information may be lost during conversion. This may be the case, for example, when converting MMS or e-mail messages to SMS messages. Images and some email attachments cannot be converted to text.

FIGURE 4 illustrates a solution to a customer service problem, i.e., a problem illustrated in FIGURE 2. Client 401 calls 402 to a specific business number (010 prefix). In customer service, the gatekeeper 403 receives a call 402. The gateway operator 5 has a relay system 404 that performs the method steps shown in FIG. Then, in method step 304, it is detected that the client server 405 is busy because it is currently processing a service request 406 as a short message that it has received, instead, the client server 407 has no service requests to process. Therefore, the switching system 404 proposes to the gateway manager 10, according to method step 304, to connect the call 402 to the extension 408 used by the client server 407. In this example, it is assumed that the gateway manager 403 accepts the switching system proposal. When the busy client server 405 is released, i.e., it has processed the service request 406, the 15 client server 405 announces through the availability service that it can receive new service requests. Thus, in FIG. 4, the PBX 403 manages both service requests (calls) through the fixed network 409 and service requests (short messages or mobile calls) via the mobile network 410. Instead of the Gateway Manager 403, the Customer Service 20 may use a CC (Contact Center) system or a voice recognition switching system.

With reference to Figures 1, 2 and 4, it is noted that the invention is in no way limited to telephone numbers beginning with 010. The extension number 107, 205 and / or 408 may be a number beginning with 010 (e.g. 25 01022222233) instead of 010, or e.g.

Telephone number for Helsinki area such as 09-33312345.

The transmission system according to the invention can be implemented in many different ways. However, the various embodiments of the system contain features common to the invention.

FIG. 5A illustrates a relay system for processing an incoming message. The message 501 is transmitted over the communication network 502 and the relay system 503 is adapted to read the recipient information associated with the message 501 which determines the set of terminals formed by the at least one terminal. The recipient information may be the telephone number of a single terminal 35, whereby it identifies at least that terminal, but it may also specify more than one terminal. For example, in Figure 210, client server 204 may be able to choose which terminal 205 or 206 to use to receive service requests. In addition to the telephone number of the individual terminal, the recipient information may be, for example, the telephone number of the exchange, whereby the recipient information specifies at least the extension numbers of the exchange. Generally, the recipient information associated with the message 501 defines a set of terminals from which to select the terminal to which the message is directed. Note, however, that due to customer service congestion or the like, the message may not be routed to any terminal. The relay system 503 includes at least a memory 10 504 and the access unit 505 and the relay system 503 are configured to initiate through the access unit 505 a search process 506 using said recipient information as a search key directed to a predetermined set of information systems 507. The relay system 503 is preferably implemented a home registry, an Intelligent Database System, or an Intelligent Network Management Point. Of these, the intelligent database system is perhaps best suited as a platform for the relay system 503. The information system set 507 generally includes at least one of the following information systems: a telephone exchange, hardware implementing the aforementioned availability service 20, i.e. an access server, an email server, a mobile network home location register, a relay system memory, a terminal, an intelligent database system or an intelligent network management point. The hardware implementing the relay system 503 may be one of the information systems of the information system set 507, but it is also possible that the hardware implementing the relay system 503 is not one of the information systems of the information system set 507. The relay system 503 is thus adapted to initiate the paging process 506. It is further adapted to receive, as a result of the paging process 506, information 508 containing a) information on short message and / or MMS messages addressed to the terminal set, and b) 30 at least one of: emails addressed to the terminal set. The relay system 503 is further adapted to select the processing of the message 501 based on the received information 508.

The data 508 received by the relay system 503 preferably includes at least one of the following: - busy / idle information 11 for each terminal set - terminal redirection information for each terminal set.

Thus, relay system 503 is adapted to select, based on information 508, a method of processing message 501, which may be organizational or personal.

The processing method typically includes at least one of the following operations: directing the message to a predetermined terminal of the terminal set, delaying the transmission of the message for a predetermined time, prioritizing the message, placing the message in a queue. In addition, or alternatively, the processing method includes a storage operation targeting at least one of the following information: message sender, message recipient, message content, or portion thereof. Saving messages is necessary especially when a service request cannot be answered immediately. The stored data can be used later in customer service or for example in statistics and research.

In addition to the information 508, the selection of the processing method of the message 501 may be based on the sender and / or recipient information of the message. The message 501 received by the relay system can be prioritized based on the sender's telephone number. Due to the prioritization, messages from the most important customers are routed to the terminals of the customer service before other customers' messages. The message 501 may additionally or alternatively be processed based on the recipient's telephone number. This allows the customer service representative to specify the format in which he or she wishes to receive service requests.

If the service request analyzer is included in the relay system 503, the selection of the processing method of the message 501 may be based, in addition to the information 508, on the information that the service request analyzer provides after analyzing the content of the message.

The transmission system 503 may further comprise a conversion unit. In this case, the processing method of the message 501 includes, if necessary, an operation in which the conversion unit converts the message into a particular type of message or a particular type of switching connection (call, video call or fax).

The information received by the relay system may be direct instructions on how to process message 501. Alternatively, the data must be interpreted in a particular manner in order to select the correct processing of message 501. More specifically, a set of rules is disposed in the memory 504 of the relay system, and when selecting the treatment of the message 501, the relay system is adapted to interpret the rule set based on at least information 508.

Preferably, the relay system 503 comprises a user interface through which the aforementioned rule set can be edited.

As stated above, the relay system 503 is configured to initiate, through its interface unit 505, a lookup process 506 which targets the information system set 507 and results in the relay system receiving information 508. Thus, the accessory unit 503 is used at least in the lookup process 506. missions. The interface unit 503 may be implemented by software and / or hardware.

FIG. 5B illustrates a relay system for processing an outgoing message. Outgoing message 509 is typically a customer service response message to the customer. Thus, if message 501 is a message sent by a customer to a customer service representative, message 509 is a customer service response message to that customer. Preferably, the relay system is adapted to receive a response message 509 associated with message 501 and to initiate, via the access unit 505, an update process 510 using the sender information of the response message 509 as a paging key to the information system set 507 and resulting in connection and / or message related information. Thus, this set of terminals 20 mentioned in connection with Fig. 5A includes at least one terminal. The terminal set also includes the terminal of the client server from which the response message 509 originates. For example, the update process 510 may set information system set 507 to indicate that the client server terminal is idle. This is interpreted as allowing customer service to receive new service requests.

If transmission system 503 is missing above, FIG. 5B

it is possible that the busy / free information is set via the availability server. Specifically, once the client server has processed the message it receives, it declares itself "free" through the accessibility server interface.

FIG. 5C illustrates the operation of a transmission system.

The relay system 503 receives service requests 511 of different types, i.e. service requests 511 can be voice, fax, video, short message, SMS, MMS, or e-mail. In principle, all types of service requests are controllable by the mediation system. In other words, in addition to traditional calls, messages addressed to the organization can be routed to the desired terminals.

The service requests 512 transmitted by the relay system may be exactly the same service requests 511 that the relay system has received. Alternatively, at least some of the service requests 511 are converted or converted to service requests 512. The relay system 503 may place 5 service requests 512 in a logical queue 513 consisting of one or more queue structures. A separate queue structure may be provided for each type of service request. Alternatively, each customer service provider may have its own queue structure that is "mixed" with different types of service requests. None of the queue structures 10 may be located in the own memory 504 of the relay system 503, but the relay system may remotely manage the queue structures. In any case, a single service request 515, for example an e-mail, is transmitted through logical queue 513 to a particular customer service 514. The service request / e-mail 515 may be addressed, for example, to the company X customer support web address: 15 support@vritvsx.com.

In this case, the service request 515 determines a set of terminals comprising the terminals used by the customer service personnel working in the customer support. Thus, in Figure 5C, the terminal of the client server 514 is selected from these terminals. For email, it is advisable to use spam filtering to prevent 20 spam from ending up in logical queue 513 and thus messing up your organization's "X" or similar organization.

The following three figures show three examples of how the transmission system 503 of the invention can be implemented. The examples generally illustrate the interaction between the telecommunication networks and the relay system 503 25. Further, the examples illustrate how the relay system 503 obtains information 508 from the search process 506 on the basis of which it performs a selection of the processing method of the message 501.

FIG. 6 shows a transmission system implemented in the SCP. A customer using the switching system 600 dials the 010-30 adult telephone number of a company, which creates a call / call 601. The exchange forwards 602 calls to the 601 SSP. Call 601 triggers a trigger set on the SSP, whereupon call 601 processing passes to 603 SCP. The SCP reads from the call records of the call 601 the business telephone number beginning with 010 and then interrogates it from its database 604. In Figure 6, query 604 corresponds to the search process 506 of Figure 35A and database 605 of Figure 6 corresponds to 14 sets of information systems 507. Inquiry 604 yields a customer service telephone number. In addition to the query 604, the SCP updates the database 605 with information that the customer service agent in question is now reserved. The processing of the call 601 is transferred back to the SSP 603 which 5 directs the call 606 to the public telecommunications network. The public telecommunication network, or more specifically its exchanges, route 607 calls to the exchange. The exchange redirects 608 the call to the terminal used by the client 601. Alternatively, the customer may send his service request as a short message 609 from the operator A mobile station. The short message 609 is transmitted via the Base Station System (BSS) 610 to the Mobile Services Switching Center (MSC).

From the mobile switching center, short message 609 is transmitted 611 to operator A's Short Message Service Center (SMSC). Thus, the customer can create a service request by calling 601 or sending 15 short messages 609 via Operator A's mobile network. Alternatively, the customer may send his service request as a short message 612 from a mobile subscriber of another operator, i.e. operator B. In this case, the short message 612 received by the base station system of the operator B is transmitted from the base station system 613 to the mobile switching center, from which the short message 20614 is forwarded to the short message center of the operator B. Operator B

the short message center analyzes said telephone number beginning with 010 and, based on this analysis, short message 612 is forwarded 615 to operator A's short message center. It is possible that the short message center of Operator B also has the information and ability to forward the short message 25 612 directly to the interface unit of the relay system 600, although this option is not shown in Figure 6. Generally speaking, the relay system implemented in SCP The interface unit may be geographically remote from other parts of the SCP. In any case, communication 617 is required between the interface unit and the other parts of the SCP 30 in order to deliver the short message to the customer service provider in a timely manner. In addition, the SCP has a communication connection to a database 618 where customer service agent information is stored. This customer service-specific information describes, for example, whether the customer service is busy or free, and from which telephone number or network-35 address the customer service customer can be reached. The SCP reads and updates the information through the communication link 618. When 15 suitable client servers are found in database 605, the SCP / interface unit redirects 619 short messages 609 or 612 to the public data network and, if necessary, updates the status of the network address found in the database. Thus, the network address in the relay system may be "" busy "in the same way as the telephone number is 5 reserved. The public data network redirects 620 short messages to the network address found in the database, which is the network address of the computer used by the customer service. If the network address of the suitable customer service server found in the database is a mobile number, the processing of the short message 609 or 612 continues as follows. The SCP / interface unit issues command 621 10 to the mobile switching center which directs the 622 short message to the mobile network. The mobile network transmits 623 short messages to 609 or 612 mobile stations.

With regard to the call / call 601, it can be noted that the relay system 600 implemented in the SCP operates according to the method 15 shown in FIG.

With regard to the short message / message 609 or 612, it is noted that the relay system 600 is adapted to initiate a search process 506 (query 604) utilizing the recipient information of the message as a search key through its interface unit, to database 605. In addition, the relay system 600 20 is configured to receive and, based on the information received, select the method of processing the message (609 or 612).

Some of the information required by the relay system 600 could be located in the switch 624 instead of the database 605. In this case, the set of information systems 507 includes both the database 605 and the switch 624 and the search process triggered by the relay system 600 is directed to the switch 624. In this search process

FIGURE 7 illustrates a delivery system 30 implemented in an intelligent database system. A customer using the switching system 700 dials a company 010 telephone number, which creates a call / call 701. The exchange forwards 702 calls to the 701 SSP. When the call 701 is triggered, the call processing of the trigger set on the SSP is transferred to the 703 SCP. The SCP carries out an inquiry 704 in the relay system 700, the database of which contains call information 35 and short message information received through the short message service center 705. Inquiry 704 returns a telephone number of one of the 16 customer service providers available. In addition, in response to the inquiry 704, the intelligent database, the mediation system 700, is updated to inform that the customer service in question is henceforth reserved. The processing of the call 701 is transferred back to the SSP which directs the call 706 to the mobile network.

Finally, the company-owned mobile station receives 707 calls over 701 mobile networks. Alternatively, the customer may send his service request as a short message 708 from the operator A mobile station. The short message 708 is transmitted through the BSS 709 to the MSC and the short message is transmitted from the MSC 710 to the SMSC 705 of the operator A. Alternatively, the client 10 can send its service request as a short message 711 from the B mobile operator interface. In this case, the short message 711 received by the BSS is transmitted from the BSS 712 to the MSC, from where the short message is forwarded 713 to the SMSC of the operator B and further 714 to the SMSC of the operator A. In Figure 6, the short messages were transmitted from the SMSC to the delivery system 600. In Figure 7, the operation of the delivery system 700 is different if necessary.

Assume that the short message (708 or 711) remains for the time being in the SMSC 705, but the short message message 715 is transmitted from the SMSC 705 to the relay system 700. The relay system 700 is adapted to read from the message 715 the recipient information associated with the short message (708 or 711) a set of terminal devices.

The message 715 may be read through the interface units 700 of the transmission system. Communication 716 is required between the interface unit and other parts of the relay system. From the SMSC 705, the short message can be forwarded to the public information network 717 and thence to the 718 computers used by the client server. More specifically, the short message is transmitted 717 from the SMSC in response to the forwarding command 719 provided by the switching system 700. Alternatively, the short message 719 may instruct the SMSC to forward the short message 720 or via the mobile network 721 to the terminal used by the client. The switching system itself, the interface unit of the switching system 700 30, or any part thereof, may be located in a GSM / GPRS home directory or a 3G subscriber server (HSS). In this case, the read number 715 as well as the relay command 719 can be considered as signaling between the SMSC and said home location register or the subscriber server.

If necessary, the short message center of Operator B and the interface unit of the transmission system 700 may communicate with each other (option 17 is not shown in Figure 7). The communication may be effected, for example, such that the interface unit receives a notification of the short message 711 directly from the operator B short message center and, in response to the notification, issues a relay command to the operator B short message center.

With respect to the call / call 701, it can be noted that the relay system 700 implemented in the intelligent database system operates according to the method shown in Figure 3.

With respect to the short message / message 708 or 711, it can be noted that the relay system 700 implemented in the intelligent 10 database system in response to the message notification 715 is adapted to initiate a search process 506 directed to its own database using the recipient information contained in the message 715. The relay system 700 is further adapted to receive information related to the switched connections and messages as a result of the search process and to select based on the information the method of processing the message (708 or 711).

FIG. 8 illustrates a relay system implemented on a server. Fig. 8 omits certain details already shown in the previous Figures. The relay system 800 is implemented on a server that serves as the company's 'X' email server. Suppose that SMSC receives 20 short messages 801 and forwards 802 to its server. In a short message, the server reads the recipient's number in addition to the recipient's number and uses both phone numbers as search keys to initiate the search process. This time, the application process will consider whether any of our customer service staff has previously served 801 25 customers who have previously sent a short message. If any of the customer services are services to that customer, a record containing the customer service telephone number and the customer telephone number is stored in memory 803 of the relay system. The customer service indicated by the record is selected as the handler of the short message 801 if he is free. Let's say the client handler is currently free 30 and receives service requests via email. Thus, the short message 801 is converted to an e-mail message and the e-mail message is routed to the public information network 804, which forwards the e-mail message 805 to the client server computer. Suppose the customer service representative is outside the office and wants to receive all e-mails in 35 short messages. In this case, the short message is not converted, but is routed from server 806 back to SMSC, which transmits 807 short message 18 over mobile network 18 to client 808 mobile station. In addition, the relay system 800 comprises a user interface 809 for the needs of the company and / or the telecommunications operator. Through the user interface 809, the rule set stored in the memory 803 of the relay system can be changed. Thus, the aforementioned rule of the 5 sets of rules that the same client serves the same client can be modified or supplemented via interface 809. Each terminal (810 or 811) used by the client server is equipped with an interface through which the client server can update its availability information. Availability information includes, for example: busy / free, 10 normal / meeting, and work / vacation information. To transmit the availability information, the terminal 810, i.e. the mobile station, is adapted to communicate 812 with the relay system 800 according to, for example, SMS or WAP technology. Similarly, the terminal 811, i.e. the computer, is adapted to communicate 813 with the relay system 800 according to WWW technology 15. In addition to the short messages, the relay system 800 is capable of receiving e-mail messages, for example, an e-mail message 814 transmitted over an IP (Internet Protocol) network 815.

The relay system 800 of FIG. 8 does not relay coupled connections, but relays emails and short messages.

20 It is important for the operation of the relay system that the message specifies a set of terminals. For example, the short message 801 received by the relay system 800 defines a particular set of terminals. If the short message is addressed to the company's 'X' PBX, the terminal set contains all PBX extension numbers. Since a single client server may have multiple terminals, the set of terminals defined by short message 801 may include at least one computer network address in addition to the PBX extension numbers. Similarly, the email determines the set of terminals. Suppose email 814 was sent to customer support@vritvsx.com. In this case, the e-mail 814 determines the network addresses of the computers 30 that are used by the customer support staff.

With respect to the short message / message 801 or the e-mail 814, it is noted that the relay system 800 is configured to initiate a retrieval process 506 using the receiver's message recipient information as the retrieval key 353 in memory 803. based on how the message (801 or 814) is handled.

Generally, the relay system obtains information from at least one of the following information systems in the retrieval process 506: a telephone exchange, 5 availability servers, an email server, a mobile network home location register, a relay system memory, a terminal, an intelligent database system or an intelligent network management point. The transmission system can thus obtain information directly from the terminals. For example, in FIG. 8, the relay system 800 could obtain information from the terminals 810 and 811 10 in the paging process 506 via communication links 812 and 813.

Generally speaking, the switching system can control a) circuit switched telephone network connections (call, video call, fax), b) cellular network connections and messages, and / or c) IP network data packets. For example, the e-mail message 814 consists of 15 data packets transmitted over the IP network 815.

In addition to the embodiments shown in Figures 6-8, there are numerous other ways of implementing the transmission system 503 of Figure 5A, however, these various embodiments of the transmission system 503 will be apparent to those skilled in the art. As an example of an obvious embodiment to a person skilled in the art, an implementation in which a relay system is implemented on a SIP frontend, the SIP frontend operating according to the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP).

FIG. 9 shows a service request analyzer for examining a service request. The service request analyzer 901 may be utilized in the method shown in FIG. 3 25 or in the relay system 503 shown in FIG. 5A. It is intended to examine a service request 904 transmitted over a communications network 902 and addressed to a particular set of terminals 903. Service request 904 may take one of the following forms: SMS, Short Message, Video, SMS, MMS, Email, Digital Voice 30 or Digital Fax.

The service request analyzer 901 is adapted to read memory 905 storing reserved words, each reserved word consisting of at least one byte. In addition, it is adapted to read the contents of the transmitted service request 904, to perform, by means of comparison means 906, an identity comparison between at least 35 bytes formed by one reserved word and the content of the service request. Finally, the service request analyzer 20 is adapted to provide data 907 which indicates the result of the similarity comparison (s) performed. The service request analyzer 901 is connectable to a system which, in response to the transmitted information, performs at least one of the following actions: redirects the service request 5 to a predetermined terminal, redirects the service request to other hardware, delays the service request to a predefined service, prioritizes. The system mentioned above is, for example, a transmission system 503.

The Service Analyzer 901 is particularly suitable for language recognition. 10 Let's say Service X is addressed to Company 'X' in Finnish, Swedish, or English. In addition, it is assumed that each of the customer service personnel employed by Company X speaks at least one of the above languages. When the service analyzer 901 is utilized in the relay system 503, service requests can be routed by language to 15 customer service providers. In this case, three digital dictionaries are stored in memory 905, that is, Finnish, Swedish and English dictionaries. The service analyzer reads the contents of the transmitted service request 904 and the contents of the dictionaries. More specifically, the service analyzer searches the service request 904 for the word / string it reads from the words in the dictionaries. 20 The service request analyzer 901 may use the following table as a comparison tool 906, for example:

LANGUAGE RESULTS

Finnish__0_ Swedish__9_ English 2_

Thus, the LANGUAGE column in the table lists three languages and the 25 hits in the RESULTS column lists the hits, that is, the number of times the word read in the service request was found in a particular dictionary. The table shows that there were no Finnish words in service request 904, nine words in Swedish and two words in English. In this case, examination of the content 30 of service request 904 is terminated when ten hits are obtained for a given language. Then, the service request analyzer 901 outputs data 907, i.e., the language of the service request 904, based on the similarity comparisons made.

You may need to use a table to identify the language of the service request as reliably as possible. It is known that especially 5 English words occur among non-English words. It is also known that some words occur in at least two different languages.

In addition to the language, the Service Request Analyzer can identify numerous other service request contents.

Assume that the service request analyzer is used in connection with banking services 10. Suppose the bank provides the following services: - Mortgage loan - Student loan - Consumer credit 15 - Pension insurance - Other insurance

It is also assumed that the bank has a voicemail system to which the bank's customer service request is directed if all the bank's customer service staff are busy. The voicemail system 20 works by asking the customer to hear a notification from their phone asking them to provide their contact details and which banking service they are interested in. It is assumed that the customer notifies the following details and information: I am interested in housing credit. " The voice mail system converts the customer's speech into a digital format and stores it in memory. In this case, the service request 904 analyzed by the service analyzer 901 is a customer speech stored in digital format. When a service analyst discovers the word '' home loan '' in the speech, the service analyst concludes that the customer is interested in the home loan.

So in this banking example, one 30 '' hit is enough. In other words, the banking service of interest to the customer is deduced from one word, such as '' home loan ''.

It is also possible that the service request is organized in the form of a form so that the identification of the content of the service request is more reliable than the identification of the free-form content. For example, a service request 35 in the form of a form may look like the following:

First Name: Matti_

Surname: Virtanen Subject: Mortgage loan

A form is characterized by the fact that it contains headings, and that after each heading the information related to the heading is presented. In the service request above, the headings are 'First Name', 'Last Name' and 'Asia'.

Preferably, the service request includes at least one of the information presented in a predetermined section of the service request. For example, a predefined position is a certain number of bytes / bits that follow the service request header. Alternatively, a predetermined point begins at the point in the content of the service request where a particular bit string 10 (token) is written. The service request analyzer 901 is preferably adapted to read the content of the service request from a predetermined location.

The form can be implemented, for example, as an SMS or MMS message. It does not need to include the sender's contact information, assuming the sender of the message is a contact. The form may be stored in the terminal memory 15 with the sender's first name and last name completed. In this case, the sender only needs to fill in the 'Asia' section. A form implemented as an MMS message may contain graphics. Otherwise, its appearance may be personalized, as long as certain information is available in the service request.

The method, relay system and service request analyzer 20 of the invention are defined in the following claims.

Claims (20)

23 A method for managing service requests sent via at least one telecommunication network, the service request comprising fixed and mobile telephone calls addressed to an individual organization and 5 SMS, short message, SMS and / or MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) type messages addressed to at least one telephone number. wherein the relay system receives (301) a notification of an incoming service request and reads (302) information relating to said calls, and 10 reads information related to said (303) messages, characterized by further selecting (304) information on read, call and information based on how the service request is handled, when the availability service information is disclosed, from which 15 network addresses, including telephone numbers and computer network addresses, customer services, t avoittaa. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the availability service information further comprises at least one of the following information: busy / free, normal / meeting or work / holiday information. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the selection of the service request processing method is further based on information provided by the service request analyzer after examining the service request. The method of claim 1, characterized in that said service request processing method comprises at least one of the following actions: directing the service request to a predetermined apparatus, delaying the transmission of the service request for a predetermined time, prioritizing the service request, placing the service request in a queue. 5 for processing an MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) type message (501), the message (501) being for a particular client, the relay system comprising at least a memory (504) and an interface unit (505) and adapted to read the recipient information associated with the message define at least one set of terminals, characterized in that the relay system is further adapted to initiate, via the interface unit (505), a search process (506) using said recipient information as a search key for a predetermined set of information systems (507); 506) resulting in information (508) of short message and / or MMS messages addressed to the set of terminals and at least one of the following information: switching of the set of terminals 20 based on the received information (508), to select the personal processing method of the message (501), the personal processing method being defined by a particular client service via access interface (25) to the user interface (25). A method according to claim 1, characterized in that when the service request is a call, the call type is a voice connection, a video call connection or a fax. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that said service requests further include e-mails addressed to at least one e-mail address. A method according to claims 5 and 6, characterized in that said method of processing a service request includes the step of converting a service request 24 into either a particular type of message or a particular type of call. An intermediary system (503) for transmitting a short message, SMS, Short Messaging Service, or A system according to claim 8, characterized in that the relay system is implemented in one of the following equipment: a telephone exchange, an availability server, an email server, a mobile network home location register, a SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) host, an intelligent database system, an intelligent network management point. A system according to claim 8, characterized in that the set of information systems includes at least one of the following information systems: a telephone exchange, an availability server, an email server, a mobile network home location register, a relay system memory, a terminal, an intelligent database system or an intelligent network management point. 25 System according to claim 8, characterized in that the received information contains at least one of the following information: busy / idle information of each terminal of the set of terminals, re-control information of each terminal of the set of terminals. A system according to claim 8, characterized in that said message processing method comprises at least one of the following operations: directing the message to a predetermined terminal of the terminal set, delaying the transmission of the message for a predetermined time, prioritizing the message, placing it in the message queue. A system according to claim 8, characterized in that said method of processing a message includes a storage operation directed at least one of the following: message sender, message recipient, message content or part thereof. System according to claim 8, characterized in that the choice of the method of processing the message is further based on the sender and / or recipient information of the message. A system according to claim 8, characterized in that the system further comprises a service request analyzer (901) and that the method of processing the message (501) is based on information (907) obtainable from the service request analyzer (901), the service analyzer being adapted to read , read memory (905) storing reserved words, comparing means (906) to perform an identity comparison between the contents of at least 25 reserved words and messages read from the memory, and providing data (907) indicating the result of the performed identity comparison (s). A system according to claim 15, characterized in that the purpose of said identity comparison (s) is to identify the language associated with the content of the message. A system according to claim 8, characterized in that the system further comprises a conversion unit, and wherein said method of processing the message includes the step of converting the message into a particular type of message or a switched connection. A system according to claim 8, characterized in that a rule set is stored in the system memory and that when selecting the message processing method, the system is adapted to interpret the set of rules at least on the basis of information related to switched connections and / or messages. System according to claim 18, characterized in that the system further comprises a user interface through which the rule collection can be edited. The system of claim 8, characterized in that the relay system is further adapted to receive a response message associated with the message and to initiate, via the interface unit, an update process using the response message sender information as a retrieval key for said information system set. 27