JP4656894B2 - IP call center system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an IP call center system.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an IP (Internet Protocol) call center that accepts inquiries by telephone accepts and answers various inquiries and consultations from customers regarding services and products provided by companies.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of a conventional IP call center system.

  In this case, the IP call center includes a call center server that processes incoming calls from customers, responses to calls from customers, operator terminals operated by operators of the IP call center, and external telephones or PCs operated by the operators. (Personal computer) A connection telephone is included (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In the IP call center, when a call from a customer is received, the call center server first performs an IVR (Interactive Voice Response) process as an automatic voice response process, and receives an incoming call from the customer's telephone as an external terminal. Once (simply) received, the purpose of the telephone is narrowed down by automatically answering the menu selection or user number input.

  Subsequently, the call center server searches for an appropriate notification destination operator using an ACD (Automatic Call Distribution) function for automatically allocating incoming calls to the operator. Thereafter, an incoming call notification is transmitted to the operator terminal, IP call control is performed, and an IP communication protocol such as SIP (Session Initial Protocol), H.264, etc. is transmitted to an external telephone or a PC connection telephone operated by the operator. An incoming call notification is transmitted by H.323 or the like.

When the call center server receives a response from the operator terminal and the external telephone or the PC connection telephone, the call center server establishes a connection between the customer telephone and the external telephone or the PC connection telephone. Thereby, the operator can respond to inquiries, consultations, and the like by telephone from customers.
JP 2000-172668 A

  However, in the conventional IP call center system, when PD (Predictive Dialing) work is performed, the connection time for establishing a connection between the customer's telephone and an external telephone or a PC connection telephone becomes long. May end up. Here, predictive dialing means that when performing telemarketing, questionnaire surveys, etc. in an IP call center, the call center server automatically makes a call to the customer's phone based on the customer information, and only the connected phone is connected to the operator. This is a method of notifying to. That is, in predictive dialing, when a call is made to a customer's telephone and a response is received from the telephone, an incoming call notification is transmitted to the operator terminal and the external telephone or PC connection telephone after the response. Yes. Therefore, the connection time needs to be shorter than a predetermined time. However, since the call center server needs to simultaneously execute communication with an operator terminal and communication with an external telephone or a PC connection telephone, when the process is congested, the specified connection time is reduced. It will be impossible to protect.

  The present invention solves the problems of the conventional IP call center system, has a messaging server having an interface function with an external telephone, and when the operator terminal logs on the messaging server, the messaging server and the operator telephone An IP call center system capable of establishing a connection between the external telephone and an operator telephone in a short time when a response is received from the external telephone by establishing a voice path between And

Therefore, in the IP call center system of the present invention, there is provided a call center server system comprising an operator system with the operator terminal and the operator telephone, a main Tsu sage ing server and call management server, the messaging server, and external telephone The call management server performs call control between the messaging server and the operator telephone, and the messaging server controls establishment of a voice path between the messaging server and the operator telephone. and a server system, when you log the operator terminal to the call center server system to establish a voice path between the messaging server and the operator telephone, the external telephone When a response from the external telephone is received, a voice path is established between the external telephone and the messaging server, a notification that the response from the external telephone has been received is transmitted to the operator terminal, and a response to the notification is sent to the operator. When the terminal transmits to the messaging server, the voice path between the external telephone and the messaging server is connected to the voice path between the messaging server and the operator telephone by a switching process.

According to the present invention, an IP call center system has a messaging server having an interface function with an external telephone, and establishes a voice path between the messaging server and the operator telephone when an operator terminal logs on to the messaging server. And receiving a response from the external telephone, establishes a voice path between the external telephone and the messaging server, and sends a notification to the operator terminal that the response from the external telephone has been received. When the operator terminal sends a response to the messaging server, the switching process connects the voice path between the external telephone and the messaging server to the voice path between the messaging server and the operator telephone. Yes. Therefore, when there is a response from the external telephone, the connection between the external telephone and the operator telephone can be established in a short time.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an IP call center system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  In the figure, reference numeral 10 denotes an IP call center system according to the present embodiment, which is a system provided in an IP call center that performs predictive dialing work for telemarketing, questionnaire surveys, and the like. The IP call center system 10 includes a call center server system 20 as a computer system that provides a call center function, an operator system 30, and a LAN (Local Area Network) 14 as a network inside the IP call center system 10. In the present embodiment, the call center server system 20 includes a messaging (MSG) server 21 and a call management (CM) server 22.

  Here, the messaging server 21 includes arithmetic means such as a CPU and MPU, storage means such as a semiconductor memory and a magnetic disk, a communication interface, and the like, and is connected to the LAN 14. The messaging server 21 operates in accordance with a program, and has an interface function with an outside telephone 11 described later, that is, a GW (Gate-Way) function, an IVR function, a unified function, etc., and processes a message. The messaging server 21 also has an ACD function. The messaging server 21 may be constituted by a single computer such as a personal computer, a web server, or the like, or a plurality of computers connected organically such as a distributed server. It may be one of a plurality of systems constructed in a large computer.

In addition, the call management server 22 includes arithmetic means such as a CPU and MPU, storage means such as a semiconductor memory and a magnetic disk, a communication interface, and the like, and is connected to the LAN 14. The call management server 22 has a function of performing a call control between the messaging server 21 and the operator telephone by operating according to a program. The call management server 22 may be constituted by a single computer such as a personal computer, or may be an organic combination of a plurality of computers such as a distributed server. However, it may be one of a plurality of systems constructed in a large computer. Further, although the call management server 22 may be configured integrally with the messaging server 21, it will be described here as being configured separately.

  The operator system 30 includes an operator terminal 31, an IP telephone 32 as an operator telephone, and a PC connection telephone 33. Here, the operator terminal 31 is, for example, a personal computer, and includes a calculation means such as a CPU and MPU, a storage means such as a semiconductor memory and a magnetic disk, a CRT, a liquid crystal display, an LED (Light Emitting Diode) display, and the like. Any type of device may be used as long as the device includes a display unit, an input unit such as a keyboard and a mouse, and a communication interface. The operator terminal 31 is connected to the LAN 14 and performs call control such as incoming and outgoing calls to an external line or an internal line.

  The IP telephone 32 is a normal telephone, and is connected to the LAN 14 so that a voice call can be performed on an IP network using VoIP (Voice over IP) technology. On the other hand, the PC connection telephone 33 is a telephone connected to the operator terminal 31 by USB (Universal Serial Bus) or the like, and can perform a voice call on the IP network via the operator terminal 31. Yes. Note that the IP telephone 32 and the PC connection telephone 33 are configured to perform a voice call of a call for which call control is performed by the operator terminal 31.

  The messaging server 21 is communicably connected to the external telephone 11 used by the customer via the network 12. The external telephone 11 is a normal telephone, but may be capable of making a voice call on an IP network using VoIP technology. The network 12 may be a wired or wireless public telephone network, or may be an IP network including an intranet, a LAN, a WAN (Wide Area Network), the Internet, and the like.

  Next, the operation of the IP call center system 10 having the above configuration will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an operator logon operation according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  In the present embodiment, the operator terminal 31 notifies the call center server system 20 that a logon operation has been performed in order to notify that the operator starts the call center business. Then, the messaging server 21 of the call center server system 20 recognizes that the operator has started work, that is, is ready to accept incoming calls. Further, when the operator ends the call center operation, the operator terminal 31 performs a logoff operation. Thereby, the messaging server 21 recognizes that the operator has finished the business.

  First, the operator logon operation shown in FIG. 3 will be described. In this case, the operator of the IP call center starts the call center business and operates the input means of the operator terminal 31 to start logon. That is, a logon operation is performed. Then, the operator terminal 31 sends a logon notification and transmits a logon request to the messaging server 21 of the call center server system 20.

  Subsequently, when the messaging server 21 receives a logon request from the operator terminal 31, the messaging server 21 transmits a call request to the call management server 22 to make a call to the operator telephone of the operator. Then, the call management server 22 makes a call to the operator telephone of the corresponding operator, that is, the IP telephone 32 or the PC connection telephone 33. The IP telephone 32 or the PC connection telephone 33 that has received the call from the call management server 22 automatically returns a response to the call management server 22.

  Subsequently, when receiving a response from the IP telephone 32 or the PC connection telephone 33, the call management server 22 notifies the messaging server 21 that the response from the operator telephone of the corresponding operator has been received. Then, the messaging server 21 transmits a notification that the logon is completed to the operator terminal 31. Thereby, the logon of the operator terminal 31 is completed. Further, the messaging server 21 transmits a notification that the logon is completed, and at the same time establishes a voice path with the voice path between the messaging server 21 and the IP telephone 32 or PC connection telephone 33 of the operator as a connected state. To do.

Next, steps in FIG. 3 will be described.
Step S1 The operator operates the input means of the operator terminal 31 to start logon.
Step S2 The operator terminal 31 transmits a logon request to the messaging server 21.
Step S3 The messaging server 21 sends a call request to the operator telephone to the call management server 22.
Step S4: The call management server 22 sends the call to the operator telephone.
Step S5 The operator telephone automatically returns a response to the call management server 22.
Step S6: The call management server 22 notifies the messaging server 21 that a response has been received from the operator telephone.
Step S7 The messaging server 21 sends a notification to the operator terminal 31 that the logon has been completed.
Step S8 The logon of the operator terminal 31 is completed.
Step S9 The messaging server 21 establishes a voice path with the voice path between the messaging server 21 and the operator telephone set as a connected state.

  Next, the operation up to the incoming call to the operator will be described. Here, the operation when performing predictive dialing work will be described.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing operations up to an incoming call to an operator in the embodiment of the present invention.

  In this case, according to the operation result of the operator logon, the operator terminal 31 is in a standby state, and the voice path between the messaging server 21 and the operator telephone is in a connected state, and the voice path is being established. . Then, the messaging server 21 selects a destination, and makes a call to the telephone number of the external telephone 11 as the selected destination. That is, a call is made to the external telephone 11 used by the customer selected as the destination.

  The messaging server 21 establishes a voice path between the external telephone 11 and the messaging server 21 when there is a response from the external telephone 11 that made the call, that is, when a response from the external telephone 11 is received. . Subsequently, the messaging server 21 selects a notification destination operator, and selects an operator terminal 31 that notifies that there is a response from the external telephone 11 as a notification destination. The operator terminal 31 to be selected is an operator terminal 31 that has already been logged on by the above-described operation.

  Subsequently, when the notification destination operator terminal 31 is selected, the messaging server 21 transmits a notification to the selected operator terminal 31 that there is a response from the external telephone 11. When the operator operates the input means of the operator terminal 31 to perform a response operation, a response is transmitted from the operator terminal 31 to the messaging server 21. Subsequently, when the messaging server 21 detects that a response has been received from the operator terminal 31, it performs a switching process, and the voice path between the external telephone 11 and the messaging server 21 corresponds to the messaging server 21. It connects to the voice path between the operator's operator telephone, that is, the IP telephone 32 or the PC connection telephone 33. Accordingly, an incoming call to the operator is performed, and a call can be made between the customer who uses the external telephone 11 and the operator who uses the IP telephone 32 or the PC connection telephone 33.

Next, steps in FIG. 4 will be described.
Step S11 The operator terminal 31 is in a standby state.
Step S12 The voice path between the messaging server 21 and the operator telephone is being established.
Step S13 The messaging server 21 selects a destination.
Step S14: The messaging server 21 makes a call to the selected outside telephone 11.
Step S15 The external telephone 11 transmits a response to the messaging server 21.
Step S16 The messaging server 21 establishes a voice path between the external telephone 11 and the messaging server 21.
Step S17 The messaging server 21 selects a notification destination operator.
Step S18 The messaging server 21 transmits a notification to the operator terminal 31.
Step S19 The operator terminal 31 transmits a response to the messaging server 21.
Step S20 The messaging server 21 performs a switching process.
Step S21 A telephone call is made between the customer who uses the external telephone 11 and the operator who uses the operator telephone.

  Next, the operation of the operator logoff process will be described.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an operator logoff operation according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  In this case, the voice path between the messaging server 21 and the operator telephone is in a connected state according to the operation result of the operator logon, and the voice path is being established. Then, the operator ends the call center operation, and operates the input means of the operator terminal 31 to start logoff. That is, a logoff operation is performed. Then, the operator terminal 31 sends a logoff notification and transmits a logoff request to the messaging server 21 of the call center server system 20.

  Subsequently, when the messaging server 21 receives a logoff request from the operator terminal 31, the messaging server 21 transmits a request to the call management server 22 to transmit a disconnection request to the operator telephone of the operator. Then, the call management server 22 transmits a disconnection request to the operator telephone of the operator, that is, the IP telephone 32 or the PC connection telephone 33. When the IP telephone set 32 or the PC connection telephone set 33 receives the disconnection request from the call management server 22, the voice path connection between the messaging server 21 and the IP telephone set 32 or the PC connection telephone set 33 is cut off. Establishment is canceled.

  Subsequently, the IP telephone 32 or the PC connection telephone 33 returns a disconnection completion message to the call management server 22 indicating that the voice path connection has been disconnected. When the call management server 22 receives the disconnection completion from the IP telephone 32 or the PC connection telephone 33, the call management server 22 notifies the messaging server 21 that the disconnection completion has been received from the operator telephone of the corresponding operator. Then, the messaging server 21 transmits a notification to the effect that the logoff is completed to the operator terminal 31. Thereby, the logoff of the operator terminal 31 is completed.

Next, steps in FIG. 5 will be described.
Step S31 The voice path between the messaging server 21 and the operator telephone is being established.
Step S32 The operator operates the input means of the operator terminal 31 to start logoff.
Step S33 The operator terminal 31 transmits a logoff request to the messaging server 21.
Step S34 The messaging server 21 transmits a disconnection request to the operator telephone to the call management server 22.
Step S35: The call management server 22 transmits a disconnection request to the operator telephone.
Step S36 The connection of the voice path between the messaging server 21 and the operator telephone is disconnected, and the establishment of the voice path is released.
Step S37: The operator telephone returns a disconnection completion message to the call management server 22.
Step S38: The call management server 22 notifies the messaging server 21 that the disconnection completion has been received from the operator telephone.
Step S39 The messaging server 21 sends a notification to the operator terminal 31 that the logoff has been completed.
Step S40 The log-off of the operator terminal 31 is completed.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the IP call center system 10 includes the messaging server 21 having an interface function with the external telephone 11 and the call management server 22 having a function of performing call control with the operator terminal 31 and the operator telephone. When the operator terminal 31 is logged on to the call center server system 20, a voice path is established between the messaging server 21 and the operator telephone. Then, in the predictive dialing service, when a call is made to the selected external telephone 11 and a response is received from the external telephone 11 that has made the call, that is, when an incoming call is received from the external telephone 11, messaging with the external telephone 11 After establishing the voice path with the server 21, the voice path between the messaging server 21 and the operator telephone is connected. Therefore, when there is a response from the external telephone 11, the voice path between the external telephone 11 and the operator telephone can be established in a short time. Thereby, the customer who uses the outside telephone 11 can make a call with the operator who uses the operator telephone without waiting.

  Further, even when a call is made from the customer to the IP call center system 10 in a business other than the predictive dialing business, that is, even when a call is made from the external telephone 11 to the IP call center system 10, the external telephone 11 The voice path between the external telephone 11 and the operator telephone can be established within a short period of time after the messaging server 21 receives the incoming call. Therefore, the customer who uses the external telephone 11 can make a call with the operator who uses the operator telephone without waiting.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, It can change variously based on the meaning of this invention, and does not exclude them from the scope of the present invention.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the IP call center system in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of operation | movement of the conventional IP call center system. It is a figure which shows the operation | movement of operator logon in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation | movement until the incoming call to the operator in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation | movement of operator logoff in embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

10 IP call center system 11 External telephone 20 Call center server system 21 Messaging server 22 Call management server 30 Operator system 31 Operator terminal 32 IP telephone 33 PC connection telephone

Claims (1)

(A) an operator system comprising an operator terminal and an operator telephone;
(B) A call center server system comprising a main Tsu sage ing server and call management server, the messaging server comprises an interface function with the outside line telephone, the call management server, and the messaging server and the operator telephone A call center server system that controls the establishment of a voice path between the messaging server and the operator telephone ;
(C) when logging on the operator terminal to the call center server system, establishing a voice path between the messaging server and the operator telephone;
(D) upon receiving a response from the external telephone, establishes a voice path between the external telephone and a messaging server, and sends a notification that the response from the external telephone has been received to the operator terminal;
(E) When the operator terminal transmits a response to the notification to the messaging server, the voice path between the external telephone and the messaging server is connected to the voice path between the messaging server and the operator telephone by switching processing. An IP call center system.

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