JP2004252668A - Contact center managing and controlling program, device and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a means for automatically notifying the bad condition of an operator or the failure of the progress of a conversation with a customer to a manager who is present in a remote place distributed type contact center concerning management and controlling, wherein operators are distributed to satellite offices or home offices in remote places. <P>SOLUTION: This device is provided with a conversational voice inputting means 1 in a contact center who responds to an inquiry from a customer, a detection target item counting means 3 for counting the output of a voice/emotion recognizing means 2 according to the classifications of emotions or voices for each of detection target items, an alarm deciding means 5 for deciding whether or not an alarm should be notified based on the threshold of generation frequency set for each of the detection target items from the counted value and an alarm notifying means 6 for notifying the alarm to the manager of the operator when it is decided that the alarm should be notified. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the operation management of a so-called distributed call center that accepts telephone calls from customers by operators distributed to remote satellite offices and telecommuting, and responds to inquiries about products and services, and particularly to TCP / IP technology. The present invention relates to a program, apparatus, and method for operation management of a distributed contact center having expanded functions.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, various inquiries such as financial products, account status confirmation, address change notification from bank customers, and various inquiries such as product operation methods and product claims from users of the products have been made by customers of the manufacturer. An inquiry center that opens and accepts telephone numbers as a contact point, that is, a call center, was operated.
[0003]
In order to be able to handle calls from a plurality of customers at the same time, a large number of personnel are intensively arranged as operators who respond to calls, and inquiries are sequentially and appropriately distributed in consideration of the load on each operator.
In addition, each customer raises a different question or problem, and can call specialists or, if the operator is having difficulty responding, see a nearby administrator requesting some help or responding. And intercepted the contents of telephone conversations or substituted telephone calls.
[0004]
However, from the viewpoint of securing human resources and increasing the efficiency of capital investment, the workplaces of operators are dispersed in regions, so that the work of the call center can be performed by working in each region in the satellite office or working from home at home. Has come to be demanded by society. These have been realized with the support of the development of electronic communication technology (for example, see Patent Document 1).
[0005]
That is, in Patent Document 1, as an operator support system for facilitating operator management in a distributed base type call center such as a satellite office or telecommuting, log on to a CTI (Computer Telephony Integration) of a center via a communication line. There is disclosed a configuration of a technique for managing a logoff state and determining whether the operator is in a response state, waiting for a response, leaving a seat, or logging off.
[0006]
This makes it possible to determine whether or not the operator can respond to telephone inquiries from customers even when working remotely, to understand the details of the operating status of the operator, and to measure the efficiency of the operator's work. Is obtained.
In addition, a call center converted to an IP (Internet Protocol) has been realized as a product, and can handle various information such as voice (VoIP: Voice Over IP), Web, and E-mail. (For example, see Non-Patent Document 1).
[0007]
This makes it possible to build a remote call center such as a satellite office or a home-based call center using only the client equipment. Through LAN and WAN, the voice communication can be performed by the manager as well as the call between the distributed call center operators, Interception or three-way communication between the operator and the customer can now be freely performed.
[0008]
Further, as one of the developments of the call center, it is introduced that the operator can appropriately respond to the customer by using a means for the operator to grasp the customer's emotion in the dialogue with the customer (for example, See Non-Patent Document 2.). That is, using the voice emotion recognition technology, the operator can improve the customer relationship, which is the mission of the call center, by responding while measuring the change in the emotion of the other party of the call.
[0009]
It should be noted that a call center having such a spread of channels that can be processed has come to be called a contact center, and thus the present invention uses this name (for example, see Patent Document 2).
[0010]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-2002-77403 (Pages 1 to 3, FIGS. 1 to 3 and FIG. 5)
[0011]
[Patent Document 2]
JP-A-2002-109194 (pages 1-2, FIG. 5)
[0012]
[Non-patent document 1]
Fujitsu Limited, "IP MEDIASERVE Call Center", [online], [searched January 4, 2003], Internet <URL: http: // crm. Fujitsu. com / jp / products / hard / mediaserve / >>
[0013]
[Non-patent document 2]
AIG Co., Ltd., "What is ST System?", [Online], [searched on December 27, 2002], Internet <http: // www. agi-web. co. jp / top / st_1. html>
[0014]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
A contact center operator working at a remote office or at home constructed by using the technique disclosed in the patent document or the non-patent document 1 described above, the working condition at that time from a manager at a remote place is roughly. You can be notified, and by sending a signal for help, you can take the voice response from the manager or get support in a three-way conversation, etc. However, the feeling of isolation has decreased.
[0015]
In addition, depending on the problem brought by the telephone partner who is individually answering, it is difficult to solve the problem well, and the customer becomes emotional. Cognitive technology has enabled operators to objectively capture customer emotions, reduce their stress, and respond appropriately.
However, for an integrated contact center operator where the manager is on the side, the manager can visually check the work status and, depending on the situation of the operator, request from the operator especially when necessary. The administrator can support without waiting for the traffic light, but it is difficult for an operator at a remote place to receive such detailed support in a timely manner.
[0016]
Accordingly, the present invention provides a satellite remote office or home-based contact center where a remote administrator can automatically check for a poor physical condition of an operator or a poor communication with a customer without waiting for communication from the operator. The purpose is to provide a means for receiving notice.
[0017]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of the present invention. The figure shows a configuration that implements a means for automatically detecting the necessity for an administrator in a contact center to assist a satellite office or telecommuting operator from a conversation voice of an operator responding to a customer and notifying the administrator of an alarm. .
[0018]
Reference numeral 1 denotes a conversation voice input unit for digitizing and inputting a voice of a conversation between a customer and an operator. This is realized by Internet telephone technology as a conventional technology. Thereby, the subsequent processing is realized by computer technology as digital information processing.
2 recognizes human emotions by inputting the voice of the prior art described above, and recognizes and classifies the emotions into, for example, anger, joy, sorrow, normal state, etc., and outputs them. This is a voice emotion recognition unit that detects a specific word by recognition and outputs words expressing emotion.
[0019]
Reference numeral 3 denotes a detection target item counting unit that sets a type of emotion or a word representing the emotion as a detection target item of the emotion in advance, and counts the output frequency of the voice emotion recognition unit 2 for each detection target item.
Reference numeral 5 denotes an alarm determination unit that determines whether or not an alarm should be notified based on the occurrence frequency threshold set in advance for each of the detection target items.
[0020]
Reference numeral 6 denotes an alarm notifying means for notifying, as an alarm, the necessity of the operator's support to an administrator who manages the operator when it is determined that the notification should be made.
[0021]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
In the present embodiment, a form realized by a computer program executed on a computer used for general purposes such as a personal computer and a workstation will be described.
The contact center operation management program, device, and method of the present invention are implemented by being executed as a computer program on a computer including a processing device, a main storage device, an input / output device, and the like. The computer program is provided by being stored in a portable medium such as a floppy disk or a CD-ROM, or in a main storage device or an auxiliary storage device of another computer connected to a network.
[0022]
The contact center operation management program of the present invention is directly loaded from a portable medium into a main storage device of a computer, or, in a computer having an auxiliary storage device, once copied or installed from a portable medium to an auxiliary storage device, the main storage device stores the program. Loaded into storage and executed. Also, when provided by being stored in another device connected to the network, after being received from the other device via the network, it is loaded into the main storage device, or in a computer having the auxiliary storage device, the auxiliary storage device is provided. After copying, the program is loaded into the main storage device and executed.
[0023]
FIG. 2 shows a configuration diagram of the embodiment of the present invention. The present embodiment shows a contact center in which a remote office 11 and a home office 12 are connected via an intranet 15 and operate integrally with a main contact center 10.
In this contact center, operators who receive various questions and complaints over the phone, such as handling, operating, diagnosing failures, purchasing, repairing, etc. An inquiry center with the function of answering frequently asked questions by referring to the manual, and having more specialized contents answered by specialized staff.
[0024]
First, regarding the operation of the contact center, the functions and relationships of the components shown in FIG. 2 will be described. The main contact center 10 collectively receives telephone inquiries from customers and allocates them to operators who respond. The customer calls the main contact center via a conventional standard telephone 22 or Internet telephone 21.
[0025]
When the voice of the customer A is received from the Internet telephone 21 via the Internet 13, the voice of the customer A is received by the server 23 as digital information via the LAN 16 of the main contact center directly as Voice (Voice Over IP). . When the voice of the customer B is received from the standard telephone 22 via the public line 14, the voice of the customer is converted into the same format as the digitized voice information from the Internet telephone by the gateway 24, and is converted via the LAN. It is received by the server 23.
[0026]
As described above, all voices are treated as digital information in the subsequent processing of the contact center in a unified manner, and telephone calls of each customer accepted by the server 23 are operated by a plurality of operators 25, 27, 28, 29 corresponding thereto. Is connected to an operator who is determined to be in a connectable state based on the status, load status, and the like.
In addition to the operator a25 located in the main contact center 10, the operator b27 and the operator c28 in the remote office 11 and the operator d29 in the home office 12 are connected to the server of the main contact center 10 via the intranet 15 as an extension of the LAN 16. It is connected digitally, and is further connected to LAN 17 and LAN 18 inside the remote office and home office.
[0027]
In this way, the audio information once converted to digital information can be exchanged irrespective of the distance even if the location where each telephone terminal is installed is not only the same building but also a remote location by the intranet and the Internet. .
In the main contact center 10, a manager 26 is similarly connected to the LAN 16, and is arranged so as to manage the work status of each operator, the status of response to customers, and to support business.
[0028]
Here, each of the operator terminals 25, 27, 28, 29 and the administrator terminal 26 has a computer function including a microphone for inputting voice, a speaker for outputting voice, and a headphone, similarly to the Internet telephone 21 of the customer. Displays various operation screens related to a voice call in addition to the display by a normal application program. That is, in the operator terminals 25, 27, 28, and 29, after being connected by an operation of sequentially connecting from a queue of incoming calls from customers, ordinary voice conversation is performed using a microphone and headphones. Can be put on hold and a consultation call or operation can be performed with the administrator. In addition, when assistance from the administrator is required in dealing with the customer, even during a call with the customer, for example, operate the help button to inform the administrator terminal that assistance is required. Can be.
[0029]
In the administrator terminal, many operators have problems due to the status display such as the current response status, work status, number of waiting customers, presence or absence of support requests, etc., and statistical display of each operator displayed by the administrator application. And manage so that the work of the contact center in charge is operated smoothly.
In particular, when a support request from an operator is detected, an operation is performed so that a conversation between the customer and the operator can be intercepted, and an operation for switching the call between the operator and the customer to the three-way communication mode depending on the content of the operation. It is possible.
[0030]
On the other hand, in a completely centralized contact center, the operator manages operators in the same building and on the same floor. Or reduce the number of calls in charge to reduce the load.
Similarly, by observing the situation of the call with the operator's customer directly by eye, it is difficult to deal with it.Because the support request is notified, the call contents are intercepted and the help ship is issued at an early stage. Was completed.
[0031]
In the embodiment of the present invention, many operators are distributed and arranged at remote offices or home offices instead of a completely centralized contact center, and it is necessary to smoothly operate and manage these operators as administrators. is there.
Regardless of whether the operator is located at a remote location via the intranet or the Internet or an operator located at a centralized contact center, for work facing the terminal, calls with customers, screen operations with managers, calls There is no change in the interface conditions.
[0032]
However, there is a great difference between centralized operators and managers in terms of management attitudes in the same workplace, whether they can look at their faces, and whether or not they can be attentive. Delays in grasping the situation, such as health problems of the customer or emotional troubles during the conversation with the customer, may result in a large loss in the work of the contact center that emphasizes the relationship with the customer. is there.
[0033]
A mechanism for solving such a difficulty in management of a remote operator will be described in detail in the following embodiments.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of the server of the contact center. Here, within the entire server, a function to perform voice emotion recognition by using the conversation voice of the operator and the customer who is the call partner as input and to notify the operator of the recognition result based on the set judgment criteria is realized. Only the configuration to be performed is shown.
[0034]
The server 30 holds login management information 36 based on information 39 on the login and logoff operations of the operator. When each operator logs in at the terminal seat and is ready to accept, telephones for consultation and inquiries coming to the contact center are allocated, a queue is formed, and the operator performs an incoming call operation and enters a talking state.
[0035]
The operator status monitoring means 31 monitors the log-in management information 36, and monitors the logged-in operator from the state before the start of the call to the voice of the operator from the microphone at the terminal seat. The voice 40 of the conversation is monitored.
The voice 40 of the monitored conversation is recognized by the operator / customer speech voice emotion recognition means 32 to recognize the emotion and recognizes a specific word by voice recognition, and the detection target item counting means 33 detects the state of the detected emotion and the specific word. A counter provided in the emotion recognition detection target item counter 38 is counted for each operator and each detection target item.
[0036]
The threshold value comparing means 34 sets the operator-specific conditions set in the operator operation information 37 to the threshold values set in advance in the operator operation information 37 based on the values of the operator-specific detection target items counted in the emotion recognition detection target item counter 38 in advance. Is compared with the value reflecting the above, and the necessity of notifying the administrator is determined.
Here, when it is determined that notification to the administrator is necessary, the operator notification unit transmits a message 41 to the terminal of the operator.
[0037]
The operation of the server 30 of the contact center configured as described above will be described with reference to the structure and flowchart of related information.
First, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an emotion recognition detection target item counter. This explains the data structure of what is shown at 38 in FIG. The detection items are crying, coughing, scared, and angry as items detected by voice emotion recognition as recognition types, and "not playfully" (synonyms "not a joke") as items detected by voice recognition. "I will sue you" (synonym "trial") and "sorry (synonym" sorry ").
[0038]
The microphone monitor and the call monitor are classifications for separating target items to be detected according to the work status of the operator. For example, when a call is waiting, the voice of the operator coming from the microphone is monitored to detect the health condition of the operator, and to detect crying or coughing.
The threshold value is set to a standard value for each item to be detected, and the lower limit of the count value of the number of times each item is detected during each continuous monitoring period, that is, the administrator is notified when the count reaches this value. Show.
[0039]
The reset cycle is a period in which immediately after the notification to the administrator is made, the administrator is taking action to resolve the alarm, and the recognition of the detection target item for the same item is suppressed for a certain time, The unit of the reset cycle is minutes.
A counter is provided for each operator for each of the above detection target items. Further, a timer for counting the period of the reset cycle after the reset is similarly provided.
[0040]
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the operator operation information. This indicates the attributes of each operator and indicates the necessity of monitoring based on the login ID and whether or not the worker is a remote worker. The threshold value of the alarm is also set by each operator. I am trying to make corrections for each individual. Further, when an alarm is detected, the ID of the administrator of each operator is made to correspond to the destination of notification.
[0041]
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the login state management information of each operator. When the user logs in to the terminal seat, the operator is ready to work, and the operator to be monitored is thereby recognized. Also, the IP address is used as a destination for call interruption, three-party call, and the like.
FIG. 7 shows a display example of the administrator screen. 7 (a) and 7 (b) show examples of a screen displayed on a personal computer when a supervisory target voice is detected. In FIG. 7 (a), a notification that an NG word "I will appeal" was detected during a call. An example is shown below. (B) shows a screen for notifying that a cough has been detected during microphone monitoring.
[0042]
FIG. 7C shows the status of the logged-in operator, which is normally displayed on the screen of the administrator at all times. In the display, the operator who has detected the problem is made to notice by blinking or changing the color, or changing the screen according to the problem. In addition, the monitoring parameters of each operator can be operated.
[0043]
8 and 9 show operation flowcharts of the server. The operation of the server will be described step by step with reference to the figures already described.
In step 81, a new login is monitored. If there is a logged-in terminal, the operator operation information of FIG. 5 is searched from the logged-in ID in step 82, and if the setting of the remote work of the operator is "Yes", In step 83, the microphone sound of the operator is set to be monitored in real time, and thereafter the sound from the microphone is always recognized as a voice emotion. In step 84, the process waits for the occurrence of an event.
[0044]
When logoff is detected as an event, the log-in state management information, operator operation information, and emotion information recognition detection item counter related to the ID of the logged-off operator are reset, and a new login is awaited in step 81.
When an incoming call is detected, a setting is made in step 85 so that the voices of both the customer and the operator who are talking on the microphone / speaker of the incoming terminal are monitored in real time. As a result, the subsequent conversational voices are always recognized as voice emotions.
[0045]
When the call is disconnected, the flow returns to the monitor mode of the voice of the operator's microphone in step 83. In step 84 or step 86, if the voice or the emotion that is made to recognize the voice emotion is recognized and detected, the process proceeds to step 91, and the corresponding item in the emotion recognition detection target item counter 38 for each detection target item and for each login ID is detected. Count on the counter.
[0046]
The counted value is compared with a corresponding threshold value. At this time, the threshold is corrected for each operator based on the individual alarm threshold corresponding to the login ID of the operator, and the operator operation information is applied.
In step 93, it is determined whether or not the value of the counter exceeds the threshold value. If not, in step 97, the state is sorted according to the call state, and the state returns to the state of waiting for two events of the microphone monitor or the call monitor.
[0047]
If it is determined that the threshold value is exceeded, in step 94, a notification destination manager of the operator indicated by the login ID is searched from the operator operation information, and a notification that the detection target item has been detected is made. This notification is transmitted by sending a message screen that informs the change and the contents of the normal screen display.
Once the notification destination manager is notified, the counter is reset at step 95 and the target voice non-detection timer is set at step 96 so that the voice emotion recognition of the microphone or the call is not performed for the time of the timer.
[0048]
In step 97, if the item to be detected is recognized during the call state, the process returns to the event waiting step 84 for monitoring the microphone / voice during the call, and otherwise returns to the event waiting in step 83.
In this way, it is possible to finely manage or support a remote office or home office operator who cannot be directly seen by a contact center manager by recognizing the voice of the voice even in a remote place. We can see that we can do it.
[0049]
【The invention's effect】
As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, at the contact center that responds to inquiries and consultations from customers, the voice of the operator or the customer who calls is monitored, and the voice is identified by voice emotion recognition. By recognizing and detecting emotions or specific words, it is possible to detect in advance the malfunction of the operator's health condition and the problem of correspondence with the customer, and notify the operator's manager of the situation. This has the effect of improving the efficiency of management of operators and the efficiency of management of call handling operations, ie, the degree of freedom in arranging offices in the entire contact center and the quality of service to customers.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a server configuration; FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an emotion recognition detection target item counter; FIG. Illustration of operation information [FIG. 6] Illustration of login status management information [FIG. 7] Display example of administrator screen [FIG. 8] Operation flowchart of server (part 1)
FIG. 9 is an operation flowchart of a server (part 2);
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Conversation voice input means 2 Voice emotion recognition means 3 Detection target item counting means 4 Detection target item DB
5 Alarm judgment means 6 Alarm notification means

Claims (5)

In a contact center where the operator responds to inquiries from customers, contact center operation management that notifies the administrator of the timing of operator assistance using voice emotion recognition means that recognizes emotions using voice conversation as input and outputs emotion types A program,
A detection target item counting unit that counts the output of the voice emotion recognition unit for each detection target item set in advance by the type of emotion,
Alarm determination means for determining whether or not to notify the alarm based on the threshold of the occurrence frequency set in advance for each of the detection target items the counted value,
A contact center operation management program for causing a computer to function as alarm notification means for notifying an administrator who manages an operator when it is determined that the notification should be made. 2. The contact center operation management program according to claim 1, wherein the alarm determination unit sets the threshold of the occurrence frequency to be determined to be a threshold set in advance for each detection target item and for each operator. The contact according to claim 1, wherein the alarm notification unit suppresses detection of the detection target item for a period set in advance for each of the detection target items when notifying an alarm. Center operation management program. In a contact center where the operator responds to inquiries from customers, contact center operation management that notifies the administrator of the timing of operator assistance using voice emotion recognition means that recognizes emotions using voice conversation as input and outputs emotion types A device,
A detection target item counting unit that counts the output of the voice emotion recognition unit for each detection target item set in advance by the type of emotion,
Alarm determination means for determining whether or not to notify the alarm based on the threshold of the occurrence frequency set in advance for each of the detection target items the counted value,
An alarm notifying unit for notifying an administrator who manages the operator when it is determined that the notification should be made, a contact center operation management device. In a contact center where the operator responds to inquiries from customers, contact center operation management that notifies the administrator of the timing of operator assistance using voice emotion recognition means that recognizes emotions using voice conversation as input and outputs emotion types The method,
Counting the output of the voice emotion recognition means for each detection target item set in advance by the type of emotion,
A step of determining whether to notify an alarm based on a threshold value of the occurrence frequency set in advance for each of the detection target items and the counted value,
Notifying a manager managing an operator when it is determined that the notification should be performed,
A contact center operation management method comprising:

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