KR100386441B1 - Integrated System for Internet Call Center and Method for operating the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a communication system, and more particularly to an Internet integrated call center. According to the present invention, the Internet call center can be constructed by utilizing the configuration of the CTI equipment using the existing public telephone network. If the customer's computer wants to consult, clicking on the link on the Internet homepage will launch a synchronized browser program, which is connected from the call control server to the agent's computer's Internet address and gateway in front of the PBX. Obtain an internet address. The program first connects to the gateway using the gateway's IP and requests the gateway to call setup the phone number of the particular agent's phone, which is then passed to the PBX. When the counselor picks up the receiver, the voice call is made. At the same time, the client's synchronized browser program requests the synchronized browsing to the agent's computer, and the agent's computer accepts and controls the synchronized browsing.

Description

Integrated System for Internet Call Center and Method for operating the same}

The present invention relates to a communication system, and more particularly to an Internet integrated call center.

Conventional call centers are systems that support consultation, guidance, after-sales services, etc. through an automated answering service (ARS), a telephone call with a counselor, or a combination thereof. This technology has been established and used for a long time and is implemented using computer telephony integration (CTI) equipment using telephone equipment connected to public telephone networks and computer systems integrated with it. However, these call centers rely only on voice communications, which limits their quality of service or their applications.

With the development of Internet technology, the Internet call center has emerged as an interactive service that can support a direct call with a counselor on the homepage or a combination of text chat, video call, and document exchange.

Internet call centers are widely used in customer service, complaint services, promotions in Internet shopping malls, Internet stock trading, Internet video chat, virtual education, surveys, and human-assisted E-commerce.

This technology can maximize the effectiveness of consultation by using voice, chat, file transfer, video and video. In addition, one-to-one service is available, allowing companies to strengthen their customer relationships. The technology is also very useful in increasing sales and marketing opportunities for companies.

To build an Internet call center, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology, video service technology, data service technology, and synchronized browsing technology (Escorted Browsing Technology) are required. Synchronized browsing technology is a browser synchronization technology that allows an agent and a user to talk while viewing the same screen. There are an image transmission method and a URL push method, which enables more effective counseling. Such synchronized browsing technology is described in Korean Patent Application Publication No. 1998-24102, published on July 6, 1998, filed by International Business Machines Corporation, and filed on August 16, 2000, filed by Virtualware Co., Ltd. As described in Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 2000-051934, various forms are known before the filing date.

1 shows an internet call center system according to the prior art. In the Internet call center, there may be an Internet customer connected through a personal computer 101 or the like and a telephone customer connected through a general telephone 102. The personal computer 101 for the Internet customer is usually equipped with a headset and a sound card to support VoIP voice communication, and may be equipped with a camera to enable video communication.

The Internet customer first connects to the web server 130 using his computer 101. At this time, the software necessary to use the call center is downloaded from the web server 130 or the like and automatically or manually installed in the personal computer 101. For Internet voice communication, the customer computer 101 obtains an IP address from the VoIP server 140 that can be connected to one of the plurality of counselor computers 161. In this case, the VoIP server 140 may determine whether the counselor computer 161 is in consultation or not, and then call the available counselor computer 161 to check whether a call connection is possible. If a call connection is possible, a VoIP connection is made by transmitting the corresponding Internet address to the customer computer 101. Here, the PC-To-Phone model is taken as an example. However, since various models of such Internet voice communication technology are known, a detailed description thereof will be omitted. In this case, the call log may be stored in the DB server 150 by the VoIP server 140. Meanwhile, the web server 130 may support text chatting. In addition, the agent computer 161 pushes the URL of the web page that he sees to the customer computer 101 to perform synchronized browsing so that the customer can conveniently and efficiently consult the same web document as the agent. Necessary materials may be uploaded or downloaded via a web page of the web server 130, or may be sent and received through an e-mail server 120.

On the other hand, a customer who wants to talk through a general telephone 102 rather than a personal computer is separated from an Internet counselor through a conventional Private Branch Exchange (PBX) / Interactive Voice Response (IVR) through the PSTN 112. Is connected to the telephone 162 of the telephone counselor prepared. In addition to the call connection, the PBX device also processes customer statistics and access statistics. IVR equipment may take over calls and distribute and wait on the station. In IVR equipment, a service commonly called an ARS (automatic or audio response system) is implemented. Typically, CTI servers are supported to provide total control over these entire servers. Although these servers are all described as separate servers, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that in practice, they may be separate processes implemented in one server, or one or several of them may be integrated and implemented in one server.

As described in detail above, the Internet call center according to the related art enables the service in various ways by integrating the Internet technology and the conventional voice call center technology. However, the system described above has the disadvantage that integrated service is not possible for telephone customers and Internet customers. That is, since the general telephone customer is connected to the telephone counselor 162 provided separately through an almost separate network, for example, the Internet customer and the telephone customer could not be integratedly managed in the database. This makes it difficult to manage customers, duplicates the system, and inefficient use of staff.

Figure 2 shows another Internet call center system according to the prior art. Here, the web server 130, the automatic call distribution (ACD) server 221, and the mail server 150 are implemented as a number of processes in the web call server 220. Calls from customer phone 102 over public telephone network 112 are integrated with Internet phone calls from customer computer 101 at Internet Phone Gateway (IPG) device 240 via PBX device 170. do. The counselor may exchange voice and video communication, text, and moving image information with a customer using the computer 161 and a headset connected thereto. This system is meaningful in that the existing telephone network is integrated in IPG, but there is a problem in that a new system must be configured as a whole because existing call center equipment adopting CTI equipment cannot be utilized.

An object of the present invention is to provide an internet call center system that can build an internet call center while utilizing the existing CTI equipment using the existing PSTN network.

Furthermore, an object of the present invention is to provide an internet call center system capable of efficient use of counselor personnel.

Furthermore, an object of the present invention is to provide an Internet call center system capable of integrated customer management.

1 shows an internet call center system according to the prior art.

Figure 2 shows another Internet call center system according to the prior art.

Figure 3 schematically shows the overall configuration of the integrated call center system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a timing chart showing a processing procedure of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The Internet call center system according to an aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object supports the synchronized browsing between a plurality of customer computers and a plurality of agent computers, a plurality of Internet phones or public telephone networks associated with each of the customer computers It supports voice communication between customer's phone and multiple agent's phones.

A call control server that receives a consultation request from the customer computer and returns an internet address of a counselor computer and a gateway address required for a voice call through a counselor telephone corresponding to the counselor computer;

An Internet phone gateway that receives a voice call setup request from a customer computer and forwards the call setup request to the premises switching equipment;

A private premises exchange equipment for distributing a normal call over a public telephone network to a telephone of a counselor, and for distributing a call setup request received from the Internet phone gateway to a telephone of a counselor. According to this aspect of the present invention, the counselor can simultaneously handle calls over the public payphone network and Internet phone calls through the same telephone.

Furthermore, according to another aspect of the present invention, the system is:

It is characterized in that it further comprises a CTI server connected to the premises switching equipment, and installed to communicate with the call control server. According to this aspect of the present invention, it is possible for a call through a conventional public telephone network and an Internet phone call to be integratedly managed by the same server.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, the system is installed to be capable of communicating with the call control server, and the counselor's computer 361 and the customer computer 301 exchange security equipment information with each other for communication for packet voice communication. It further comprises a check server for supporting the setting of the path. According to this aspect, the present invention can reduce the time that a customer connecting through a network spends on system configuration.

Operation method of the Internet call center system according to the present invention is:

Receiving, by the call control server, an Internet call setup request from the customer computer, obtaining necessary gateway address information from the gatekeeper, and distributing it to the agent telephone through the gateway by the private branch exchange;

Receiving and distributing a call establishment request, which is a consultation request from a customer telephone, through the private branch exchange;

Acquiring, from the gatekeeper, the synchronized browsing connection setting information with the counselor computer in response to the connection request from the customer computer to establish a synchronized browsing connection with the counselor computer;

Characterized in that it comprises a.

Furthermore, a counseling support method implemented as a program downloaded and executed on a client computer for operating a call center according to the present invention establishes a synchronized browsing connection with one of a plurality of agent computers by accessing an internet call center and further accesses the access center. Set up an Internet phone call path with an agent computer.

Sending a consultation request;

Obtaining an address of a gateway connectable to an available counselor's telephone and an extension number of the telephone;

Establishing a call to a private branch exchange by connecting a gateway with the address;

Establishing a call to a counselor phone through the extension number;

Obtaining an address of an agent computer associated with the telephone;

Requesting synchronized browsing to the agent computer;

Performing synchronized browsing with the agent computer;

Characterized in that it comprises a.

According to the present invention, the Internet call center can be constructed by utilizing the configuration of the CTI equipment using the existing public telephone network. According to a characteristic aspect of the present invention, when a customer's computer wishes to consult, clicking a link on the Internet homepage causes a synchronized browser program to be started. Obtain the internet address of the gateway connected to the front end of the exchange (PBX). The program first connects to the gateway using the gateway's IP and requests the gateway to call setup the extension of the telephone that the particular counselor has. The gateway asks the PBX to call this extension. As a result, call setting is made between the customer computer and the telephone of the specific counselor. When the counselor picks up the receiver, the voice call is made. At the same time, the client's synchronized browser program requests synchronized browsing from the agent's computer, which the agent's computer accepts and controls, thereby enabling synchronized browsing between the two computers.

In short, the present invention is able to connect a call to a specific agent by an extension method by connecting the Internet phone gateway to the private branch exchange of the call center, Internet phone and PSTN phone as one conventional phone using the existing PSTN network Both can be used, and at the same time the agent's computer can be synchronized with the customer's computer.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily understand and reproduce.

Figure 3 schematically shows the overall configuration of the integrated call center system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The customer's regular telephone 302 is connected to a private branch exchange, i.e., PBX equipment 370, via a public telephone network 312. The PBX equipment 370 is connected to a plurality of counselor phones 362 through an internal network, that is, an extension network. In addition, the PBX device 370 is preferably connected to the IVR system 371 and the CTI server 372. In addition, recording equipment 373 may be connected.

On the other hand, the customer computer 301 is a web server 343, a check server (351), a call control server (call control server) via a network device such as router 340 through the Internet network 311 ( 341) or the like. The call control server 341 includes a web server 352, a check server 351 for exchanging firewall 344 information with a customer computer 301, a gatekeeper 342 for processing Internet voice communication, and an internet phone gateway ( internet phone gateway (IPG) 343 and may be interconnected via a network, in particular an intranet, or may be implemented on the same server physically with one or several of them. Preferably they are connected to agent computers 361 via firewall 344 equipment. The gatekeeper 342 receives the call setup request from the client computer 301 and refers to the internal database to pass the Internet address of the gateway 343, that is, the IP, to the client computer 301 to set up an internet voice call. Let's do it. Often this gatekeeper 342 may be a different process implemented in the same physical server as the call control server 341 or a process that is integrated into the same physical server. Sometimes the gatekeeper 342 is a generalized device for Internet voice communication, and may be a separate server operated by a company serving Internet voice communication, ie VoIP, rather than being integrated into the system of the present invention. The Internet phone gateway 343 is a device that converts VoIP signals over the Internet into conventional public telephone network signals and vice versa. Similarly, the gateway 343 may also be provided by a company that services Internet voice communication, and the connection between the gateway 343 and the PBX device 370 may be made at one of many output ports of the gateway 343. But these aspects are not essential. Web server 352, check server 351, call control server 341, gatekeeper 342, even database server 350, firewall 344 are all separate processes implemented on the same server, or One or a few can be combined into separate servers.

In addition, a direct connection is made to the call control server 341 by the control program of the customer computer 301, and the control program may know the IP of the gateway 343 in advance without the help of the gatekeeper 342. In this case, the gateway 343 is a dedicated device for the call center service, and may have only one or only a few output ports all connected to the PBX device 370.

According to a characteristic aspect of the present invention, the Internet phone gateway 343 is connected with the branch exchange 370. The counselor computer 361 is not equipped with a separate Internet phone circuit or a software module for Internet voice communication. Internet phone voice calls from customer computer 301 are forwarded to private exchange 370 via gateway 343. That is, in the prior art shown in FIG. 2, the voice call is integrated in the gateway, whereas in the present invention, it is integrated in the private exchange 370. This is a key aspect of the present invention.

Furthermore, according to a characteristic aspect of the present invention, the CTI server 372 may integrate and manage not only a normal call through the public telephone network 312 but also an Internet voice communication call from a customer computer coming through the gateway 1343. In addition, the CTI server 372 is connected to the internal network. Accordingly, the integrated voice communication information may be stored in the database server 350 or utilized for statistical processing or customer management in a separate server. That is, in the related art, members accessing through the public network and members accessing through the Internet are managed by separate servers, so that integrated customer management is not possible. However, according to this advantageous aspect of the present invention, the present invention provides a CTI. It is possible for the server 372 to store the information of members accessing through the public network in an integrated database through the database 350. Accordingly, the call center according to the present invention can integrate and manage all the customers who use the service without fail. Accordingly, the customer-oriented marketing (CRM) can be realized by analyzing the propensity of these customers.

In accordance with an additional aspect of the present invention, a check server 351 is provided to enable the counselor's computer 361 and the customer computer 301 to exchange each other's security equipment information for communication.

In general, voice transmission over a packet line such as the Internet is implemented as a real-time transmission based protocol such as UDP / RTP rather than a protocol such as TCP / IP because the real-time characteristics have priority over data accuracy unlike data communication. However, if a packet of such a protocol encounters a firewall device, a problem may occur because it does not check receipt of data. According to an advantageous aspect of the present invention, an internet call center system according to the present invention includes a check server 351 for communicating sessions between two computers for performing voice communication, for example, a customer computer 301 and an agent computer 361. By maintaining the connectivity, the voice packets can be exchanged smoothly. This enables smooth data communication in a network environment. In other words, according to an advantageous aspect of the present invention, the call center system according to the present invention includes a check server for setting a communication path to transmit data flow, so that voice packets can be smoothly secured.

According to the present invention, the customer may use a voice call center using a conventional ARS. This is possible by utilizing the configuration of the upper end of Figure 3 adopting the conventional CTI equipment as it is. That is, the customer connects to the branch exchange, that is, the PBX equipment 370, via the public telephone network 312 using the ordinary telephone 302. Later, the guide or telephone number is entered directly to the counselor's phone (362). At this time, the IVR system may be connected to the PBX equipment for call processing such as distribution of calls or waiting. In addition, a CTI server 372 may be provided to control these systems. The server may process access statistics or customer statistics of calls connected to the PBX device 370.

On the other hand, by utilizing the configuration shown in the lower portion of Figure 3, the customer can use the Internet call center using the synchronized browsing. The counselor first registers his IP and extension number with the gatekeeper 342 in his computer 361. In addition, the counselor from time to time registers the availability of his call to the call control server 341. However, call availability can be checked automatically by checking the on-hook status of the agent's phone 362 or from the running status of certain modules of the computer 361, such as synchronized browsing or chat. It may be registered in the control server 341. When the customer computer 301 connects to the web server 352 for consultation, the web server 352 downloads the necessary software to the customer computer 301 and checks various system specifications. This software is installed on the customer's computer to register its IP and call status with the gatekeeper 342. This software controls the hardware of the customer computer 301 to implement a call center service according to the present invention.

Hereinafter, the operation of the system until the synchronized browsing and setting of the call between the customer computer and the agent computer controlled in this way will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 4. 4 is a timing chart showing a processing procedure of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention. First, the client computer 301 requests the call control server 341 for information necessary for call setup (step S1). The call control server 341 checks the available agent computer with reference to the internal registration information. The call control server 341 requests the available agent computer identified by the gatekeeper 342, IP information of the gateway 343, and the extension number of the corresponding agent telephone (step S2). On the other hand, this information from the gatekeeper is returned to the customer computer (step S3). The client computer 301 requests the gateway 343 to set up a call using the IP of the received gateway 343. At this time, the extension number must also be included (step S4). The gateway 343 requests the call establishment using the extension number to the PBX device 370. Accordingly, the extension connection is made (step S5). The ringing rings and an agent connection is requested (step S6), and when the agent picks up the receiver and responds, the fact is recognized as the customer computer (step S7). If the agent does not respond at this time, the IP address and gateway IP of the next available agent computer and the corresponding extension number are transmitted back to the customer computer 301 by the additional request of the customer computer 301 or the recognition of the call control server 341. It is also possible.

On the other hand, when it is confirmed that the voice call path is established, the customer computer 301 requests the synchronized browsing to the counselor computer 361 using the IP address of the counselor computer 361 that has already been obtained (step S8). When the agent computer 361 responds, the agent computer 361 pushes the URL of the web page currently selected by the agent to the customer computer 301 to drive synchronized browsing. (Step S10). As is known, in addition to text chat, video chat, etc. may be supported, and further, when a customer requests an agent, the service priority is determined according to the waiting time, reservation, and customer level, and the contents of the waiting customer's inquiry, The automatic call distribution function that connects the customer to the agent by determining the agent in charge according to the service type is also possible. The call control server also leaves a contact number such as the customer's telephone number or e-mail at the request of the customer when all of the agents are busy or in a call, so that the agent can answer the customer by voice call or e-mail. You can also implement a call back service.

In the above, the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiment for supporting the one-to-one communication, but the present invention is not limited thereto. That is, the present invention utilizes a multi-party call system generally supported by the private branch exchange device 370, and allows the gatekeeper 342 to handle IP sharing between a plurality of customer computers or a plurality of agent computers, and a gateway device ( In 343, these voice call packets can be distributed to the private branch exchange network and handed over to support one-to-many or many-one or many-to-many communications.

As described in detail above, the present invention can use the existing CTI equipment as it is to build an Internet call center. Furthermore, it is possible for one counselor to handle calls over the public telephone network and Internet telephone calls simultaneously with one general telephone. In addition, it is possible to integrate a call through a public telephone network with an Internet telephone call and manage it with a database to facilitate customer management and statistical processing.

While the present invention has been described with reference to the accompanying drawings, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many various obvious modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the invention from this description. Therefore, the scope of the invention should be construed by the claims described to include many such variations.

Claims (7)

An Internet call center that supports synchronized browsing between multiple customer computers and multiple agent computers, and voice communication between multiple customer phones and multiple agent phones through an Internet phone or public telephone network associated with each of the customer computers. In the system, the system is: A call control server that receives a consultation request from the customer computer and returns connection information necessary for communication with a counselor computer and a voice call through a counselor telephone corresponding to the counselor computer; An Internet phone gateway that receives a voice call setup request from a customer computer and forwards the call setup request to the premises switching equipment; A private premises exchange equipment for distributing a normal call over a public telephone network to an agent's premises telephone, and for distributing a call setup request received from the Internet phone gateway to an agent's telephone; Internet call center system comprising a. The system of claim 1 wherein the system is: And a CTI server connected to the premises switching equipment and installed to communicate with the call control server. The system of claim 1, wherein the system is: It is installed to communicate with the call control server, and further comprises a check server for the counselor's computer (361) and the customer computer (301) to exchange the security equipment information of each other to establish a communication path for packet voice communication Internet call center system, characterized in that. An Internet call center that supports synchronized browsing between multiple customer computers and multiple agent computers, and supports voice communications between multiple customer phones and multiple agent phones through an Internet phone or public telephone network associated with each of the customer computers. In the operating method of the system, the method is: Receiving, by the call control server, an Internet call setup request from the customer computer, obtaining necessary gateway address information from the gatekeeper, and distributing it to the agent telephone through the gateway by the private branch exchange; Receiving and distributing a call establishment request, which is a consultation request from a customer telephone, through the private branch exchange; Acquiring, from the gatekeeper, the synchronized browsing connection setting information with the counselor computer in response to the connection request from the customer computer to establish a synchronized browsing connection with the counselor computer; Operating method of the Internet call center system comprising a. In a counseling support method executable in a customer computer, accessing an internet call center to establish a synchronized browsing connection with one of a plurality of agent computers and further setting up an Internet phone call path with the agent computer to be connected, Sending a consultation request; Obtaining an address of a gateway connectable to an available counselor's telephone and an extension number of the telephone; Establishing a call to a private branch exchange by connecting a gateway with the address; Establishing a call to a counselor phone through the extension number; Obtaining an address of an agent computer associated with the telephone; Requesting synchronized browsing to the agent computer; Performing synchronized browsing with the agent computer; Consultation support method executable on a computer, characterized in that it comprises a. A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for realizing the method of claim 5. In an Internet call center system that supports consultation between a plurality of client computers and a plurality of agent computers, the system includes: A call control server that receives a consultation request from the client computer and returns an internet address of an available counselor computer, a gateway address required for a voice call through a counselor phone corresponding to the connected counselor computer, and an extension number of the counselor phone; Wow; An Internet phone gateway which receives a voice call setup request including the extension number from a customer computer connecting with the gateway address and forwards the call setup request using the extension number to an premises exchange equipment; A private premises exchange equipment for distributing a normal call over a public telephone network to an agent's telephone, and for distributing a call setup request received from the Internet phone gateway to an agent's telephone using the extension number; A CTI server connected to the premises switching equipment and installed to communicate with the call control server; Internet call center system comprising a.