WO2014177917A1 - Appareil et procédé de gestion de files d'attente d'appels destinés à plusieurs opérateurs - Google Patents

Appareil et procédé de gestion de files d'attente d'appels destinés à plusieurs opérateurs Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2014177917A1
WO2014177917A1 PCT/IB2013/053482 IB2013053482W WO2014177917A1 WO 2014177917 A1 WO2014177917 A1 WO 2014177917A1 IB 2013053482 W IB2013053482 W IB 2013053482W WO 2014177917 A1 WO2014177917 A1 WO 2014177917A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
call
caller
calls
processing unit
waiting time
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/IB2013/053482
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Luca AGOSTINI
Original Assignee
Your Voice S.P.A.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Your Voice S.P.A. filed Critical Your Voice S.P.A.
Priority to PCT/IB2013/053482 priority Critical patent/WO2014177917A1/fr
Publication of WO2014177917A1 publication Critical patent/WO2014177917A1/fr

Links

Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
    • H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
    • H04M3/50—Centralised arrangements for answering calls; Centralised arrangements for recording messages for absent or busy subscribers ; Centralised arrangements for recording messages
    • H04M3/51—Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing
    • H04M3/523—Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing with call distribution or queueing
    • H04M3/5238—Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing with call distribution or queueing with waiting time or load prediction arrangements
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M2203/00—Aspects of automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
    • H04M2203/20—Aspects of automatic or semi-automatic exchanges related to features of supplementary services
    • H04M2203/2083—Confirmation by serviced party
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
    • H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
    • H04M3/428—Arrangements for placing incoming calls on hold
    • H04M3/4285—Notifying, informing or entertaining a held party while on hold, e.g. Music On Hold
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
    • H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
    • H04M3/50—Centralised arrangements for answering calls; Centralised arrangements for recording messages for absent or busy subscribers ; Centralised arrangements for recording messages
    • H04M3/51—Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing
    • H04M3/523—Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing with call distribution or queueing
    • H04M3/5231—Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing with call distribution or queueing with call back arrangements

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for managing queues of calls addressed to a plurality of operators.
  • the invention falls within the frame of so-called call centers, i.e. structures wherein a plurality of operators are in charge of answering telephone calls, all addressed to the same telephone number, and of providing information/services to callers.
  • a structure of this kind typically operates as follows: when a user calls, the call is forwarded to one of the operators who are available at that instant; if no operators are available, because all of them are busy talking to users/customers who called earlier, a waiting queue is created.
  • the caller is typically informed that no operators are currently available, and is advised to stay on hold to keep the priority acquired in the waiting queue.
  • reference numeral 1 designates as a whole an apparatus according to the present invention.
  • the apparatus 1 comprises an input interface 20 and an output interface 30. Through the input interface 20, calls addressed to a given addressee 10 can be received.
  • the first and second interfaces 20, 30 include all the hardware and/or software components which are necessary for managing incoming and outgoing calls in accordance with the present description.
  • the given addressee 10 may be, for example, a call center or a similar structure, wherein a plurality of agents Al ...An are in charge of answering calls made by respective callers.
  • the given addressee 10 is preferably equipped with an automatic system for managing and addressing the received calls; by way of example, the given addressee may comprise a so-called automatic call distributor (hereafter referred to as ACD), i.e. a device which automatically and selectively distributes the received calls to a plurality of terminals or agents.
  • ACD automatic call distributor
  • the calls received by the given addressee 10, in particular the ACD, are managed by the latter in accordance with a First In First Out (FIFO) mode, so that those calls which are received first will be the first to be answered, and, more in general, the calls will be answered in exactly the same order in which they have been received.
  • FIFO First In First Out
  • the given addressee 10 is identified by at least one identifier, such as, for example, a telephone number, through which the callers can make their calls to the given addressee 10.
  • the agents Al ...An may be, for example, human operators working in the call center and associated with respective devices or terminals, through which they can receive the calls sent to the given addressee 10 and can answer the inquiries made by the callers/customers.
  • the apparatus 1 also comprises a processing unit 40, connected to the aforementioned input interface 20 and output interface 30.
  • the apparatus 1 in particular the processing unit 40, performs the task of managing the queues of calls originally addressed to the given addressee 10.
  • the apparatus 1 can be implemented in the form of a platform functionally interposed between the callers and the given addressee 10 in order to manage the calls as described and claimed below.
  • the processing unit 40 For each incoming call received, the processing unit 40 makes a corresponding outgoing call to the given addressee 10, in particular to the aforementioned ACD.
  • the processing unit 40 can separately handle the two corresponding channels, i.e. the one generated by the caller and the one generated by the processing unit 40 towards the given addressee 10.
  • the processing unit 40 may use, for example, a correspondence table conveniently stored in a memory of the processing unit 40 itself.
  • the processing unit 40 establishes a communication with the ACD; at this point, two scenarios may occur:
  • the call made by the processing unit 40 is forwarded to the available agent (or to one of the available agents, if there are more than one).
  • the latter sends a confirmation signal S, e.g. a DTMF tone, as a connection start confirmation.
  • the confirmation signal S may also be generated automatically, as soon as the agent/operator picks up the call.
  • the processing unit 40 will put the agent in connection with the caller.
  • the call made by the processing unit 40 towards the ACD is queued after any other previously waiting calls.
  • the processing unit 40 determines an estimated waiting time ET for the incoming call.
  • the processing unit 40 estimates the time that may elapse until the incoming call can be picked up by an agent.
  • the estimated waiting time ET is determined by the processing unit 40 as a function of an average duration of calls received by the agents Al ...An.
  • This datum can be calculated by the processing unit 40, for example, on the basis of the number of confirmation signals S received by the processing unit 40 within a given time interval.
  • the average duration is updated in an adaptive manner, e.g. on a periodic basis, by the processing unit 40.
  • the estimated waiting time ET is preferably determined as a function of the number of calls which have been received before the call in question, and which have not yet been picked up by the agents Al ...An.
  • said number of calls may be determined as a difference between the total number of calls made by the processing unit 40 to the given addressee 10 and the number of DTMF tones transmitted by the agents Al ...An.
  • the estimated waiting time ET may be determined as follows:
  • an average call duration is calculated by dividing a given time interval by the number of confirmation signals S received in such interval;
  • the processing unit 40 After having calculated said estimated waiting time ET, the processing unit 40 will communicate it to the caller who is making the incoming call.
  • the processing unit 40 will also communicate to the caller the number of waiting calls received before the incoming call in question.
  • communication from the processing unit 40 to the caller may occur through a voice synthesizer, which artificially creates voice messages that are sent to the caller during the telephone session, or through a composition of pre-stored partial messages, which are appropriately assembled depending on the information to be provided.
  • a voice synthesizer which artificially creates voice messages that are sent to the caller during the telephone session
  • a composition of pre-stored partial messages which are appropriately assembled depending on the information to be provided.
  • the processing unit 40 is configured to give the caller a number of possibilities, one of which can then be chosen by the caller depending on the estimated waiting time ET that was previously communicated to him/her.
  • the processing unit 40 may send to the caller who is making the incoming call a request to choose whether to stay on hold or be called back later.
  • a further possibility that may be offered to the caller is to benefit from alternative contents, e.g. navigating in an automatic answering system, where the caller may find the desired information without having to wait for one of the agents Al ...An to become available.
  • the caller After having received the estimated waiting time ET, the caller will in turn provide instructions to the processing unit 40.
  • the caller will choose whether to hang up and then be called back as soon as an agent Al ...An becomes available again (that is, reasonably, at the end of the estimated waiting time ET) or to stay on hold and wait, or to divert his/her call towards an automatic answering system.
  • the caller may receive advertising and/or marketing-oriented contents.
  • the caller will be connected to that agent.
  • the incoming call will be terminated, but the corresponding outgoing call, i.e. the call that the processing unit 40 made to the given addressee 10 upon receiving the incoming call, will be kept alive.
  • the caller Before the incoming call is terminated, the caller is allowed to input the data necessary for being called back, e.g. first name, surname and telephone number, the latter being useful especially when it is different from that from which the incoming call was originated.
  • data are suitably stored by the processing unit 40 and will be retrieved later to call back the caller.
  • the outgoing call made by the processing unit 40 to the given addressee 10 will thus remain in the waiting queue of the ACD.
  • DTMF tones are simple, practical and effective way to allow the processing unit 40 to discern between the situation wherein the outgoing call is waiting and the situation wherein the agent is connected.
  • an automatic message may be set in order to prompt the agent to press a key on his/her telephone or answering device when picking up the next call.
  • the processing unit 40 will call back the caller and will connect him/her to the available agent.
  • the processing unit 40 may also decide to call back the caller a certain time before receiving the confirmation signal S. For example, the processing unit 40 may call back the caller when the outgoing call has reached the top of the waiting queue, i.e. it will be the next call to be picked up by the agents ⁇ .,. ⁇ . This circumstance can be recognized, for example, by comparing the number of confirmation signals S received with the number of outgoing calls made by the apparatus 1 prior to the call in question. In a different embodiment, the processing unit 40 can be configured to call back the caller only after the estimated waiting time ET has elapsed, even if an agent Al...An has meanwhile become available.
  • the processing unit 40 will call back the caller as soon as an agent becomes available, in compliance with the queue created in the ACD.
  • the above-described activity is preferably carried out by the processing unit 40 for each one of the incoming calls received.
  • the corresponding outgoing calls made by the processing unit 40 to the given addressee 10 will virtually re-create the queue where the incoming calls would be in the absence of the apparatus 1.
  • the callers Due to the logical- functional interposition of the apparatus 1 between the callers and the given addressee 10, the callers are allowed to choose how to manage their waiting time, which is advantageously estimated and communicated by the processing unit 40.
  • the callers may decide, for example, to terminate the call and be called back later; in this case, the outgoing call made by the processing unit 40 to the given addressee 10 will "replace" the original call made by the caller, and will keep its position in the queue without the caller being forced to keep listening while on hold.
  • Other options that the caller may be allowed to choose from after having been informed about the estimated waiting time are, for example, forwarding to an automatic answering system, or a "traditional" wait, during which the caller may advantageously be offered commercial or promotional information, etc.
  • the apparatus 1 is implemented as a hardware/software structure capable of providing the functionalities described and claimed herein.
  • the apparatus 1 consists of a hardware/software structure which is distinct from the given addressee 10, in particular from the ACD of the latter.
  • the apparatus 1 may conveniently cooperate with an existing ACD, requiring only the latter, and/or the single agents ⁇ .,. ⁇ referring thereto, to send the above-mentioned confirmation signals S, e.g. DTMF tones, and the same ACD to manage the incoming queues in a FIFO mode.
  • an existing ACD requiring only the latter, and/or the single agents ⁇ .,. ⁇ referring thereto, to send the above-mentioned confirmation signals S, e.g. DTMF tones, and the same ACD to manage the incoming queues in a FIFO mode.
  • the invention offers significant advantages.
  • the apparatus and the method according to the invention allow to fulfill the requests of the callers without the latter being compelled to go through long and boring waits, while at the same time allowing the answering structure to remain small in size.
  • the invention can be implemented and made operational without requiring any particular technologic additions to existing structures.
  • the only requirement is that the ACD of the given addressee 10 must manage the incoming queues in FIFO mode (as it already happens in most cases), and that a confirmation signal, such as a DTMF tone, must be sent when an agent picks up a call.

Landscapes

  • Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
  • Marketing (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Telephonic Communication Services (AREA)

Abstract

La présente invention concerne un appareil de gestion de files d'attente d'appels destinés à un destinataire donné (10), plusieurs agents (A1...An) étant chargés de répondre auxdits appels, ledit appareil comprenant : une interface d'entrée (20) destinée à recevoir les appels destinés audit destinataire donné (10) ; une interface de sortie (30) destinée à envoyer les appels audit destinataire donné (10) ; une unité de traitement (40) reliée à ladite interface d'entrée (20) et à ladite interface de sortie (30) et configurée pour : recevoir un appel entrant, destiné audit destinataire donné (10), par le biais de ladite interface d'entrée (20) ; déterminer un temps d'attente estimé (ET) pour ledit appel, ledit temps d'attente estimé (ET) étant représentatif d'une durée estimée qui s'écoulera avant que l'un desdits agents (Α1...Αn) ne soit disponible pour prendre ledit appel ; communiquer au moins ledit temps d'attente estimé (ET) à l'appelant qui effectue ledit appel ; recevoir des instructions de la part dudit appelant après la communication dudit temps d'attente estimé (ET) ; effectuer un appel sortant vers ledit destinataire donné (10) par le biais de ladite interface de sortie (30) ; recevoir un signal de confirmation (S) de la part de l'un desdits agents (A1...An) dès que ledit agent devient disponible pour prendre ledit appel sortant ; et connecter ledit appelant audit agent par le biais dudit appel sortant.
PCT/IB2013/053482 2013-05-02 2013-05-02 Appareil et procédé de gestion de files d'attente d'appels destinés à plusieurs opérateurs WO2014177917A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
PCT/IB2013/053482 WO2014177917A1 (fr) 2013-05-02 2013-05-02 Appareil et procédé de gestion de files d'attente d'appels destinés à plusieurs opérateurs

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
PCT/IB2013/053482 WO2014177917A1 (fr) 2013-05-02 2013-05-02 Appareil et procédé de gestion de files d'attente d'appels destinés à plusieurs opérateurs

Publications (1)

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WO2014177917A1 true WO2014177917A1 (fr) 2014-11-06

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Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20040174980A1 (en) * 2003-03-06 2004-09-09 Sbc Properties, L.P. System and method for providing customer activities while in queue
US20070116230A1 (en) * 2005-11-04 2007-05-24 Sbc Knowledge Ventures, Lp System and method of managing calls at a call center
US20120321070A1 (en) * 2011-05-25 2012-12-20 Echopass Corporation Systems and methods for managing multi-tenant callback services

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20040174980A1 (en) * 2003-03-06 2004-09-09 Sbc Properties, L.P. System and method for providing customer activities while in queue
US20070116230A1 (en) * 2005-11-04 2007-05-24 Sbc Knowledge Ventures, Lp System and method of managing calls at a call center
US20120321070A1 (en) * 2011-05-25 2012-12-20 Echopass Corporation Systems and methods for managing multi-tenant callback services

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