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Description  |
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TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to automatic call distributors and, specifically, to
the selection of agents for a call to an automatic call distributor.
PROBLEM
Automatic call distributors (ACDs) are used by large businesses to accept
incoming calls and to route such calls to agents for communicating with a
calling customer. A typical example of an automatic call distributor (ACD)
is the system used by airlines to accept calls requesting reservations and
tickets. The agents are grouped into teams and any call of a particular
type from a particular area of the country is routed to one of these teams
by a routing scheme that is sufficiently flexible to select alternate
teams according to the time of day, day of week and amount of traffic to
the preferred team. The use of agent teams permits an efficient
utilization of agents; queues for agent teams allow the agent teams to be
used close to capacity. ACDs take measurements to keep track of the
performance of individual agents, and to keep track of the level of
traffic load, so that a supervisor can add or subtract agents or prepare
to order additional agent positions.
While this arrangement is very successful in handling large numbers of
calls, it tends to lose the personal touch provided by contact with a
favored agent with whom a particular caller has had frequent contact.
While agents frequently have a private telephone number for bypassing the
ACD, use of this number for business purposes is discouraged, because no
queuing is possible for completing a call to other agents, and because use
of this number distorts the measurements for the ACD, since calls to the
personal number are usually for personal business. Further, if a
particular transaction is not completed during the first call--for
example, if the caller has temporarily mislaid his/her credit card, --the
second call required to complete the transaction is usually handled by a
different agent. This creates a less than perfect customer interface and
creates problems if the agents are working on commission. A problem of a
prior art, therefore, is that there is no satisfactory arrangement for
coupling particular callers to particular agents of an ACD by that same
agent.
SOLUTIONS
The above problem is solved and an advance is made over the prior art, in
accordance with the principles of applicant's invention, wherein a record
is maintained of the preferred agent for a particular caller (as
identified by that caller's telephone number provided through automatic
number identification (ANI), and calls from that telephone number are
routed to a preferred agent whenever possible. In accordance with another
feature of applicant's invention, if a transaction is not completed on a
first call, the caller is provided with a transaction number and a second
call for this transaction is then completed to the same agent after the
caller has provided the transaction number.
In accordance with another feature of applicant's invention, if the
preferred agent is not available, the conventional arrangements of an ACD
are used to connect the caller to alternate agents of the ACD, preferably
those of the same team or of a preferred team for serving the caller.
Advantageously, the facilities of the ACD are used to connect callers to a
preferred whenever possible, and to connect the callers to alternate
agents when the preferred agent is not available. Advantageously, this is
accomplished without distorting the measurements of the ACD, which are
useful for administering the operations of that ACD. Queuing is possible
for the second call without distorting the normal operation of the ACD
and, therefore, without giving customers false preferences or allowing
callers to circumvent the queuing system of the ACD.
In accordance with one specific embodiment, callers are offered the choice
of leaving a message in case the preferred agent is not available.
Advantageously, this provides the caller with the option of leaving a
message in order to communicate at a later time with the preferred agent
for a more complex transaction while allowing the caller to use other
agents for the more straightforward transactions.
In accordance with one specific embodiment, the calls for incomplete
transactions, in which the callers have been provided with a transaction
number, are routed via the different telephone number. Advantageously,
this identifies such calls so that the callers can be immediately prompted
to provide the transaction number.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the operation of applicant's
invention;
FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate layouts of memory used for implementing the
invention; and
FIGS. 4A, 4B, 5A, 5B, 5C and 6 are flow charts of programs used for
implementing applicant's invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the operation of applicant's
invention. Switching system 1 is connected by a plurality of trunks 23 to
the public-switched telephone network 25. Also connected to switching
system 1 are a plurality of stations 22 connected via lines 21. In
addition, agent stations, such as 39 and 41 automatic call distributor,
are connected to the switching network 20 by lines 37 , . . , 38, and are
used by agents of the automatic call distributor. The stations may be
connected to each other through switching system 20 of switching system 1
or may be connected to callers not served by switching system 1 via trunks
connected to the public-switched telephone network.
Agent station 39 is an ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) station
which communicates with switching network fabric 20 (referred to as
switching network in FIG. 1 and the claims) over an ISDN line 37 that
carries two B-channels and one D-channel. The station 39 is connected to a
PC (personal computer 40 by an RS 232 channel. In the preferred
embodiment, the PC 40 communicates with a host system 30 over a switched
circuit data connection utilizing a B-channel or a D-channel that is
switched in switching network 20. Station 41 is a conventional analog
telephone system; the agent at that station has a PC 42 which communicates
with host system 29 via an LAN (local area network) connection 43.
In applicant's preferred embodiment, switching system 1 includes software
in a call-control program 13 for serving an automatic call distributor
(ACD). An example of such a system is AT&T's 5ESS.RTM. switch equipped
with the PINNACLE.RTM. software, both provided by AT&T Network Systems.
The PINNACLE.RTM. application of the 5ESS is associated with a centrex
application of the 5ESS switch. The centrex application allows each line
of a business to be called directly from the outside by having each such
line provided with a telephone number. At the same time, when these lines
are part of an automatic call distributor, calls for the main numbers of
the automatic call distributor can be distributed to the individual lines
of the centrex.
Agents are grouped into one or more teams and calls to an ACD are completed
to any available member of a selected team. Switching system 1 includes a
processor 10 having storage 11, which storage includes both long-term
storage, describing the features available to particular customers and the
line which is associated with each telephone number, as well as transient
data recording the present state of all calls in the system, and the
communication software for controlling communications between the
processor and outside units such as the signaling network 35 and the host
processors 29 and 30. Signaling network 35 is used for carrying signaling
system 7 (SST) signaling messages and X.25 data packets for communicating
with the data bases 36 of an Advanced Intelligent Network. Alternatively,
a Local Are Network can be used for accessing an internal or external data
base; an example is LAN 43.
Host computer 30 is shown as having two peripheral units, 31 and 32, for
storage or data communication purposes. The host computers interface with
communications interface 19, using a standard protocol such as TCP/IP. The
host computers are administered by individual customers and contain data
supplied by these customers. This is in contrast to the data in data block
16 of storage 11 which is under the control of and/or supplied by the
telephone administration operating switch 1.
Data in block 16 or stored in blocks 29 or 30 contain information about the
characteristics of individual agent stations which are connected to the
switching system 1. Stored in the memory of processor 11 are two tables,
table 50 (FIG. 2) and table 60 (FIG. 3). Each entry of table 50 is used to
relate a caller's telephone number, usually supplied via automatic number
identification (ANI), and called, for convenience, the caller's ANI (block
52), counter for the number of calls from that ANI (block 53), an
identification of the preferred agent for handling calls from that ANI
(block 54), and an indication of the preferred team for handling calls
from that ANI when the preferred agent is not available (block 55). In
some implementations, the identity of the preferred team is inherently
implied by the agent identity and need not be explicitly recorded. Agents
are normally assigned to teams. Table 50 comprises a plurality of entries
such as entry 51 (containing blocks 52, 53, 54, and 55), each entry being
for one ANI. Additional data can be included in this table, such as the
client's name or account number, credit information, or any other data
useful for serving this customer. For each ACD directory number, a
separate table 50 and, where appropriate, a separate table 60 is provided.
Table 60 comprises a plurality of entries such as entry 61, which includes
data blocks 62,63,64,65 and 66. Block 62 contains a transaction number for
recording the number of a transaction when that transaction has not been
completed after an initial call. Block 63 is used to record the ANI for
that transaction number. Block 64 is used to record the number of calls
that have been made with respect to that transaction number. Block 65
contains an identification of the preferred agent for sending that
transaction. Block 66 contains an identification of a preferred team if
the preferred agent is not available. In general, the preferred team is a
team of which the preferred agent is a member. More generally, the
preferred team indicator may include a sequence of agent teams and/or
routing to a voice message system or a paging system is indicated in the
preferred team field.
FIG.4 is block diagram illustrating the processing of a call to an
automatic call distributor in accordance with the principles of
applicant's invention. The call arrives (action block 101). Test 103 is
used to determine whether the caller's number has been provided by ANI. If
not, the caller is prompted to key in the caller's telephone number
(action block 105) and the caller responds by keying in that telephone
number which is received by the switch (action block 107). This keyed-in
number is treated thereafter in the same way as the ANI. If the ANI has
been provided or if the caller has keyed in a number which is subsequently
treated as if it were the ANI, the ANI number table (table 50) is checked
(action block 109). Alternatively or additionally, the caller can speak a
number for recognition by a speech recognition system.
Test 111 is used to determine if the ANI matches any entry in table 50. If
not, the ANI is added to the table (action block 113). The ACD automically
assigns (action block 115) a preferred agent and team based on the
geographic location of the caller as identified from the caller's number
received by the ACD. In order to distribute work equitably among agents,
table 50 is consulted to determine the load for each agent before
selecting an agent of a team for the new call. Agents can also be selected
on the basis of such factors as language capability and other specialized
skills. An entry is made in table 50 and the call proceeds according to
test 123 and the subsequent actions. If the result of test 111 is that the
ANI is found in table 50, then the call counter for that ANI is
incremented (action block 119) and the preferred agent ID is retrieved for
subsequent processing (action block 121).
Subsequently, test 123 is performed following either blocks 117 or 121.
Test 123 is used to determine whether the preferred agent is logged on. If
so, test 125 is used to determine if a call appearance of that agent is
available. Note that, in order to take advantage of applicant's invention,
it is desirable that the agents each have several call appearances so that
they may work on several calls simultaneously; this allows an agent to
complete one transaction while putting one or more other calls on hold.
If a call appearance is available, then the call is completed to such an
available call appearance of the preferred agent (action block 127). If
the preferred agent is not logged on, or no call appearance is available,
then test 129 is used to determine whether any member of the preferred
team is logged on. If not, then action block 131 is used to queue the call
for any agent or team. Subsequently, such a call is completed (action
block 133). If any member of the preferred team is logged on, then the
call is queued for the preferred team (action block 135) and the call is
eventually completed (action block 137). Note that action blocks 135 and
137 can also be entered if the preferred agent is logged on, but has no
available call appearance (negative result of test 125).
Following any of the blocks 127, 133 or 137, the agent communicates orally
with the caller in order to accumulate data for a transaction and at the
end of the communication, test 141 is used to determine whether the data
from the caller is complete for the transaction. If so, then the agent
transmits the complete transaction data to the host for that ACD (action
block 143) over a D-channel or B-channel connection of the agent's
station; in the pre-formed embodiment, this is done over a
circuit-switched data channel. The call is then disconnected (action block
145). If the data from the caller is not complete, the agent transmits
incomplete data to the host and requests a transaction number (action
block 151). The host responds with a transaction number (action block
153). The agent provides a transaction number and a special telephone
number to the caller (action block 155). This special telephone number is
used for making second and subsequent calls when a transaction number has
been assigned, and as will be seen with respect to FIG. 5, the calling of
this special number leads to an immediate prompt requesting the
transaction number. The switch records the transaction number, the
caller's telephone number, the agent's identification and the preferred
team identification in a new entry in table 60 (action block 157). The
call is then disconnected (action block 159). In this way, the transaction
number limits the access of callers to preferred service to only those
cases when a transaction is in progress.
In present day switching systems, communications between the host data base
and the switch can be performed in one of two ways: either the host can
directly communicate with the switch and cause an entry in table 60 to be
inserted by the switch, or the host communicates only with the agent, and
the agent then communicates with the switch in order to create the entry
in the table.
FIG. 5 illustrates call processing for a call, completing a transaction
that has previously been started. According to principles of applicant,s
invention, a different telephone number is used for calls to the ACD if
the call is to complete a previously started transaction. The use of a
different telephone number allows such calls to be immediately recognized
(action block 201). The caller receives a prompt for the transaction
number (action block 202). If the customer prefers to avoid the use of a
special number, an equivalent effect can be accomplished by appending the
message: "Or key in a transaction number followed by a pound sign" to the
initial prompt so that a transaction numbers can be requested an
recognized, or by instructing the caller to key in the transaction number
as soon as the first prompt (unrelated to transaction numbers) is heard;
the special characteristic of the use of a separate telephone number is
that a different treatment is used to start the process of serving the
caller. The counter for the caller's ANI is incremented in table 50
(action block 203). If the caller's ANI does not appear in table 50, the
call is treated as if it were a new call (action block 115 and subsequent
steps); this prevents someone from falsely receiving preferred treatment.
(If no ANI has been received for that call, then the ANI can subsequently
be identified on the basis of the transaction number received from the
caller and the counter can be incremented when the ANI is so recognized).
The caller keys dual tone multifrequency (DTMF), digits representing the
transaction number, which digits are received (action block 205). This
response data is recorded in the switch (action block 207) and the counter
for that transaction number is incremented in table 60 (action block 209).
Test 211 is used to determine if there is an identified agent for this
transaction number. If not, then the call is completed to any agent and
the call is treated in essentially the same way as if it were a first call
received, by transferring directly to test 103 of FIG. 4 and following the
sequence of actions from that point on.
If there is an identified agent, then test 215 is used to determine whether
the identified agent is logged on. If so, then test 217 is used to
determine if a call appearance of the identified agent is available. If
so, a connection is set up to the call appearance of that agent (action
block 219). The agent requests the host to provide the in-progress
transaction data (action block 221). The agent receives this data (action
block 223) and the agent communicates with the caller to complete the
transaction (action block 225).
If the identified agent is not logged on(negative result of test 215), or
there is no call appearance for the identified agent available (negative
result of test 217), then test 231 is used to determine if any member of
the identified agent's team is logged on. If not, the system prompts the
caller to leave a Voice Mail message or provides a "busy" message and
disconnects the call (action block 233). Test 235 is used to determine
whether the caller selects Voice Mail. For example, the caller could key
in a Y (i.e., 9 on the DTMF keyboard) to select Voice Mail and either key
in an N (keyed 6) or simply hang up to disconnect the call. If the caller
elects not to leave a Voice Mail message, then the caller disconnects
(action block 237). If the caller elects to leave a Voice Mail message,
then the caller is connected to the Voice Mail system and a record of the
transaction number is recorded along with the Voice Mail message (action
block 239). The caller then records a message (action block 241).
Thereafter the call is disconnected (action block 243) and the Voice Mail
system updates the host with a status message indicating that a message
for a specified transaction number was left at a specified time. If no
direct message link exists between the Voice Mail system or the switching
system and the host, then the switching system can make a special record
of the existence of the Voice Mail message along with the transaction
number and time, and this message can be periodically sent to the
preferred agent and/or a team supervisor, or to connect the preferred
agent to the voice message automatically, after the preferred agent has
logged on.
If some member of the preferred agent's team is logged on (positive result
of test 231), then the caller is prompted to select between using another
agent or leaving a Voice Mail message for the original agent or simply
disconnecting. The caller can make the selection by keying one of two DTMF
digits or letters. Test 253 is used to determine the caller's preference.
If the caller chooses Voice Mail, then the actions, beginning with action
block 239, previously described, are carried out. If the caller does not
choose Voice Mail, then the call is routed to a queue for the identified
agent's team (action block 255). Eventually, a call is established to a
member of the identified agent's team (action block 257). The host
transmits incomplete transaction data to that member's agent position
(action block 259) and the member then requests additional transaction
data from the caller (action block 261). The caller supplies the
additional transaction data (action block 263). The transaction record is
completed and sent to the host (action block 265). The entry in table 60
for that transaction number is cleared and the call is disconnected
(action block 267).
FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating the processing of an abandoned call
for the case in which a transaction number has been assigned. The
transaction number and an abandoned call indication is recorded in the
host data base (action block 301). Subsequently, a message is transmitted
to the selected agent, the message including the incomplete transaction,
the caller's telephone number, and the abandoned call indicator (action
block 303). The selected agent then calls the caller back in order to try
to complete the transaction (action block 305).
It is to be understood that the above description is only of one preferred
embodiment of the invention. Numerous other arrangements may be devised by
one skilled in the an without departing from the scope of the invention.
The invention is thus limited only as defined in the accompanying claims.
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