JP2004282371A - Computer telephony system and method of supporting talking processing - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To remove opposite speaker's anxiety by clearly specifying operator's operating contents, current state, etc. to the opposite speaker. <P>SOLUTION: The computer telephony system is provided with an input part for receiving various data inputs or instruction inputs from an operator, a state information acquisition part for acquiring state information concerned with operator's operating contents to the input part, a voice output information database in which the state information and voice information corresponding to the state information are previously stored, and a voice information notification part for extracting the corresponding voice information from the voice output information database on the basis of the state information and informing the opposite speaker of the corresponding voice information through a talking terminal. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a computer telephony system and a call processing support method including a call terminal for performing a call process with a call partner by an operator and an information processing terminal operable by the operator.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In a computer telephony system in a call center or the like, a call terminal for executing a call process via a public line, a response to access from a customer using an Internet web server or an e-mail server, and information retrieval. And an information processing terminal operable by an operator.
In such a call center, when the operator is performing some processing using the information processing terminal while performing the communication processing with the other party, it is necessary for the operator to notify the operation contents using the communication terminal. Yes, for example, you need to actually say something like "I'm searching now."
[0003]
In addition, when it is necessary for an operator to manually search for a material, it is common practice to temporarily suspend the call processing and put the call on hold, and play a hold tone to the other party. .
In order to support a contract operation with a customer, a system has been proposed in which a transaction content input by an operator is read back by a voice response device (Patent Document 1).
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-11-122356 [0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
When the operator notifies the current operation content by voice, the operator cannot concentrate on the operation and cannot notify the user, and a long-lasting silent state may cause anxiety about the other party.
In addition, when the operator temporarily interrupts a call and plays a hold tone while performing another process, only a monotonous hold tone is played. It only makes you wait for the meaning, and may cause anxiety.
[0006]
Further, in the system as described in Patent Document 1, although it is possible to easily confirm the details of the transaction, what kind of operation the operator is currently performing, If the state information as to whether there is any such information is not clear and the operation is time-consuming, a silence state occurs as in the above-described example, giving anxiety to the other party.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to clarify the operation contents and the current state of an operator to a communication partner, and to eliminate anxiety of the communication partner.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
A computer telephony system according to claim 1 of the present invention is a computer telephony system including a call terminal for an operator to execute a call process and an information processing terminal operable by the operator, wherein the information processing terminal comprises: An input unit that accepts various data inputs or instruction inputs by an operator, a state information acquisition unit that acquires state information relating to the operation contents of the input unit by the operator, and audio output information in which the state information and the corresponding audio information are stored in advance. A voice information notifying unit that extracts corresponding voice information from a voice output information database based on the state information and notifies the corresponding voice information to the other party via the call terminal;
[0008]
In this case, it is possible for the operator to automatically notify the other party of the processing content of the information processing terminal, the current state information of the operator, and the voice information based on the state information regarding the progress information of the information processing terminal. In addition to being able to concentrate, even when the operator is silent or leaves his / her seat, it does not give anxiety to the other party.
A computer telephony system according to a second aspect of the present invention is the computer telephony system according to the first aspect, wherein the state information acquisition unit further includes a current state of the operator based on the operation content from the input operation unit. The status information on the status and the status information on the progress information of the information processing terminal are acquired.
[0009]
In this case, based on input information input via an input unit such as a keyboard, a mouse, and other pointing devices, a mechanical switch provided separately, and a soft switch set on the screen of the information processing terminal, the operator Status information, the status information of the information processing terminal, and the like can be obtained, and the notification of the status information to the other party can be reliably performed.
A computer telephony system according to claim 3 of the present invention is the computer telephony system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein image information or character string information is communicated based on the state information acquired by the state information acquisition unit. It further includes a status information notification unit that notifies the other party.
[0010]
In this case, the notification of the status information to the other party can be performed not only by the audio information but also by visual information notification using image information or character string information.
A call processing support method according to claim 4 of the present invention is a call processing support method in a computer telephony system including a call terminal for performing call processing by an operator and an information processing terminal operable by the operator, While the operator is performing a call process using the call terminal, at least one of the operation content of the operation of the information processing terminal by the operator, the state information on the current state of the operator, and the state information on the progress information of the information processing terminal is obtained. And notifying corresponding notification information via the call terminal based on the state information.
[0011]
In this case, it is possible for the operator to automatically notify the other party of the processing content of the information processing terminal, the current state information of the operator, and the voice information based on the state information regarding the progress information of the information processing terminal. In addition to being able to concentrate, even when the operator is silent or leaves his / her seat, it does not give anxiety to the other party.
A program according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is a program for a call processing support method in a computer telephony system including a call terminal for an operator to execute a call process and an information processing terminal operable by the operator. While performing call processing using the call terminal, receiving various data inputs or instruction inputs by the operator, acquiring state information on the operation contents of the operator, and setting the state information and the corresponding voice information in advance. Extracting voice information corresponding to the state information from the stored voice output information database, and notifying the other party of the corresponding voice information via a call terminal. It is.
[0012]
In this case, by mounting on a general personal computer, based on the processing contents of the information processing terminal by the operator, the current state information of the operator and the state information relating to the progress information of the information processing terminal are determined, and the voice based on this is determined. It is possible to realize a call processing support method that automatically notifies information to a call partner.
[0013]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
<Outline configuration>
FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a computer telephony system to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied.
A LAN (Local Area Network) 3 is provided in the call center, and a PBX (Private Branch Exchange: private branch exchange) 11, an IVR (Interactive Voice Response: automatic response system) 12, and a CTI (Computer) are provided on the LAN 3. The server 13 includes a server 13, a WWW (World Wide Web) server 14, an E-mail server 15, and various DB servers 16.
[0014]
The PBX 11 is connected to a plurality of call terminals 21 operated by an operator, and performs a process of exchanging calls between the PBX 11 and a call terminal 31 used by a customer via the public network 1.
The IVR 12 performs an automatic voice response to an incoming call from a customer arriving at the PBX 11.
The WWW server 14 is connected to the Internet 2 and is configured to transmit and receive information in response to a Web-related request from an information processing terminal 32 operated by a customer.
[0015]
The E-mail server 15 is also connected to the Internet 2 like the WWW server 14, and is configured to transmit and receive information in response to an E-mail related request from the information processing terminal 32 operated by the customer. I have.
The DB server 16 stores customer data and other databases. The DB server 16 provides a search system in response to a search request from the information processing terminal 22 operated by the operator or the information processing terminal 32 operated by the customer. Provide data.
[0016]
A plurality of operators are arranged in the call center, and a call terminal 21 and an information processing terminal 22 are arranged corresponding to each operator, and each operator can use the call terminal 21 to handle a customer by performing call processing. In addition, the information processing terminal 22 can provide a database search, an E-mail process, and other services via the Internet while the operator executes the call process by the call terminal 21.
The CTI server 13 manages a processing request from a telephone terminal 31 used by a customer controlled by the PBX 11 and a processing request from an information processing terminal 32 operated by the customer controlled by the WWW server 14 and the E-mail server 15. And sends a processing request to the most suitable processing terminal.
[0017]
<Information processing terminal>
FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration of the information processing terminal 22 operated by the operator.
The information processing terminal 22 includes a control unit 201 including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, a display device 202 including a display device such as a CRT and a liquid crystal display device, and an input operation including a keyboard, a mouse, and other pointing devices. Unit 203, a call holding instruction unit 204 including a soft switch and an input switch on the display device 202, an operation performed by the operator based on input information from the input operation unit 203 and the call holding instruction unit 204, and an operation of the operator. State information acquisition means 205 for acquiring state information, etc .; audio output information database 206 for storing audio output data for notifying the other party; and audio information notification for outputting audio output data selected from the audio output information database. Unit 207 obtains the state of the call terminal 21 and is in a call Call terminal interface 208 for performing link voice data to the call terminal 21 that includes a like IVR unit 209 to perform automatic voice response to calls terminal 31 of the customer.
[0018]
An operation example in the above-described system will be described based on the flowchart of FIG.
When the power is turned on, various parameters are reset in step S11 to perform initialization.
In step S12, it is determined whether or not a call by the call terminal 21 has been started. For example, when an incoming call arriving via the public line network 1 is distributed to the call terminal 21 of the operator via the PBX 11, it is possible to obtain information to that effect via the call terminal interface 208. Further, the PBX 11 may be configured to directly notify the information processing terminal 22 corresponding to the call terminal 21 to which the incoming call is distributed. If it is detected that the incoming call is distributed to the corresponding call terminal 21, the process proceeds to step S13.
[0019]
In step S13, it is determined whether or not the operator has operated the input operation unit 203 to execute the information input process. If there is any data input by operating a pointing device such as a keyboard or a mouse, the process proceeds to step S14.
In step S14, operation content information by the operator is acquired. For example, information on operation contents such as that the operator has moved the mouse cursor to an input item on the search screen, clicked a search button, clicked a link object, and the like is acquired.
[0020]
In step S15, the count of the timer for measuring the time during which the operator does not operate the information processing terminal 22 during the call is reset.
In step S16, audio output data is selected based on the acquired operation content information. Here, the data corresponding to the acquired operation content information is selected from the voice output data stored in the voice output information database 206. In the above-described example, the data is being input to the item of XX. "," Searching the database "," Selected link XX ", etc.
[0021]
In step S17, the selected voice output data is output via the call terminal 21. Here, the selected audio output data is transmitted to the telephone terminal 21 via the telephone terminal interface 208, and the voice is notified to the telephone terminal 31 of the customer.
The audio output data may be configured to acquire the progress information based on the processing content being executed in the information processing terminal 22 in addition to the operation content of the operator and notify the information via the call terminal 21. is there. For example, it is possible to configure so as to acquire information on the progress of the search in the database search, and to issue a notification such as “the search of XX% is completed”. In addition, it is possible to set a notification sound such that the timbre and the scale change according to the progress of the search, and to notify the progress of the database search by the notification sound. For example, at the start of a search, a notification sound of “do” sounds, and thereafter, every 14% of the search progresses, the scale increases to “re”, “mi”,. May be configured to sound. If it is determined that the search has failed because no matching data can be detected, it is also possible to configure so that music in a minor expression is played upon completion of the search.
[0022]
In step S18, it is determined whether or not the call holding process has been performed by the operator. Here, if an instruction to suspend the currently processed call is issued by a soft switch or a mechanical switch set in the information processing terminal 22, the process proceeds to step S19. When the operator operates the hold button attached to the call terminal 21 and the information to that effect is notified to the information processing device 22 via the call terminal interface 208, it is determined that the call hold process has been performed. Then, control is passed to step S19.
[0023]
In step S19, an automatic response process is performed. While the call is on hold, the IVR unit 209 built in the information processing terminal 22 is configured to be able to provide various services to customers by automatic response. For example, a menu such as “Please press 3 and # for the weather forecast” is notified, and the service is provided based on information input by operating the call terminal 31 by the customer.
Further, the information to be provided to the customer while the call is on hold may be selected from the audio output data stored in the audio output information database 206 and notified. For example, the system can be configured to notify the customer of use time period guidance such as "service use time is from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm", other service guidance, latest information, and the like.
[0024]
The voice output from the IVR unit 209 is performed based on the voice output data selected from the voice output information database 206 via a sound card or voice synthesis software (not shown) built in the information processing device 22. If the audio output information database 206 allows WAV, MP3, or other audio data, the audio file can be reproduced.
When the operator releases the call holding state, the automatic answering process in step S19 ends, and the process proceeds to step S20. At the same time, it is preferable that the count value of the timer is reset.
[0025]
In step S20, it is determined whether or not the count value of the timer exceeds a predetermined value. Here, when the count value of the timer exceeds a predetermined value set in advance, it is determined that the operator has not performed an operation input or the information processing apparatus 22 has not executed the processing, and the process proceeds to step S21. Move to
In step S21, notification of the status information of the operator is performed. The count value of the timer is reset each time the operator performs an input from the operation input unit 203. Therefore, when there is no operation input such as when the operator leaves his / her seat, the count value increases during that time. When the count value of the timer exceeds a predetermined value, it is assumed that the operator has left the seat or is performing another process, and the status information of the operator is notified to the customer side. To Also in this case, a configuration can be adopted in which the corresponding data is selected from the voice output data stored in the voice output information database 206 and output via the voice information notification unit 207.
[0026]
In step S22, it is determined whether or not the call processing in the call terminal 21 has been completed. If there is a notification from the call terminal 21 that the call has been ended or if there has been a notification of the end of the call from the PBX 11, the process proceeds to step S23. If not, the process proceeds to step S13.
In step S23, a call termination process is performed. Here, various parameters in the information processing terminal 22 are reset, and the process proceeds to step S12.
In the computer telephony system according to the present invention configured as described above, when the operator who is operating the call terminal 21 and performing the call processing with the customer simultaneously operates the information processing terminal 22, the operation content information Since the voice notification is performed based on the information, it is clear what kind of processing the operator is performing, and the anxiety of the customer can be reduced. Further, since various services can be provided by the automatic response process by the IVR unit 209 in the call holding state, the customer can not only hear a simple holding sound but also obtain various information.
[0027]
<Other embodiments>
(A) As shown in FIG. 1, when the IVR 12 and the CTI server 13 are connected to the LAN 3 in the call center, the operator operates the information processing terminal 22 to replace the CTI The control can be transferred to the server 13 so as to perform voice output and service provision to the customer. In this case, the audio output data is stored in the DB server 16, the CTI server 13 acquires the operator's status information and the status information on the processing status from the information processing terminal 22, and outputs the corresponding audio output data from the DB server 16. It can be configured to select and output.
[0028]
Further, it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which, when the operator issues a call hold instruction, the process shifts to the automatic response process by the IVR 12, and the same process as the above-described automatic response process is executed.
(B) When the call terminal used by the customer is a telephone terminal with a display, a mobile phone, a PHS, or the like, information can be sent to the customer by transmitting image data and character information. In this case, similarly to the audio output data stored in the audio output information database 206, image data or character information corresponding to the notification content is stored as a database, and the corresponding image data or It can be configured to select and transmit character information.
(C) Further, when the customer accesses by an IP telephone, the exchange process for the call terminal 21 and the information processing terminal 22 operated by the operator is controlled by the CTI server 13 shown in FIG. In this case, it is possible to shift to the control by the information processing terminal 22 after the call by the call terminal 21 is started, and it is also possible to configure the CTI server 13 to execute various notification processes. .
(D) When the customer is accessing the system via the Internet 2 using a system such as an instant messenger, the operation information of the operator, status information, and other information provision are transmitted from the information processing terminal 22 to the image data or It is possible to configure to transmit by character information. Also in this case, it is possible to shift from the information processing terminal 22 to the control of the CTI server 13 and execute transmission processing of various data.
[0029]
As shown in FIG. 4, a program for implementing the computer telephony system and the call processing support method according to each embodiment of the present invention includes a portable recording medium 410 such as a CD-ROM 411 or a flexible disk 412, and a communication line. The program may be recorded on any of the other recording device 430 provided earlier or the recording medium 420 such as a hard disk or a RAM of the computer 400, and is loaded and executed on the main memory of the computer 400 when the program is executed. .
As shown in FIG. 4, various types of data generated by the computer telephony system according to the present invention are provided not only on a portable recording medium 410 such as a CD-ROM 411 or a flexible disk 412 but also on a communication line. May be stored in any of the other recording devices 430 and the recording medium 420 such as a hard disk or a RAM of the computer 400, and are read by the computer 400 when using the computer telephony system of the present invention. Used.
[0030]
【The invention's effect】
ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it becomes possible to transmit the operation content which an operator in a call center processes, and the operator's state information to a customer one by one, and it becomes possible to eliminate the customer's anxiety due to a continuous silent state. Further, the operator can concentrate on his / her own work, and can smoothly perform processing of the information processing terminal, manual search, and other work.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a computer telephony system to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied;
FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of the information processing terminal.
FIG. 3 is a control flowchart thereof.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a recording medium that stores a program of the present invention.

Claims (5)

A computer telephony system including a call terminal for an operator to execute a call process and an information processing terminal operable by the operator,
The information processing terminal,
An input unit for receiving various data inputs or instruction inputs by the operator,
A state information acquisition unit that acquires state information regarding the operation content of the input unit by the operator,
An audio output information database in which the state information and audio information corresponding thereto are stored in advance,
A voice information notifying unit that extracts corresponding voice information from the voice output information database based on the state information, and notifies the corresponding voice information to a call partner via the call terminal.
A computer telephony system comprising: 2. The computer according to claim 1, wherein the status information acquisition unit further acquires status information on a current status of the operator and status information on progress information of the information processing terminal based on an operation content from the input operation unit. 3.・ Telephony system. 3. The computer telephony system according to claim 1, further comprising: a status information notifying unit that notifies the other party of image information or character string information based on the status information obtained by the status information obtaining unit. A call processing support method in a computer telephony system including a call terminal for an operator to execute a call process and an information processing terminal operable by the operator,
While the operator is performing a call process using a call terminal, accepting various data input or instruction input by the operator,
Obtaining status information on the operation content of the operator;
The voice information corresponding to the status information is extracted from a voice output information database in which each status information and the voice information corresponding to the status information are stored in advance, and the voice information corresponding to the other party is notified to the other party via the voice call terminal. Stages and
A call processing support method including: A program for a call processing support method in a computer telephony system including a call terminal for an operator to execute a call process and an information processing terminal operable by the operator,
While the operator is performing a call process using a call terminal, accepting various data input or instruction input by the operator,
Obtaining status information on the operation content of the operator;
The voice information corresponding to the status information is extracted from a voice output information database in which each status information and the voice information corresponding to the status information are stored in advance, and the voice information corresponding to the other party is notified to the other party via the voice call terminal. Stages and
And a program for causing a computer to execute a call processing support method including the following.

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