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What is claimed is:
1. A method for routing an incoming media stream comprising:
(a) receiving a media stream comprised of one of a plurality of media
stream types directed to an enterprise;
(b) determining attribute data characteristic of said media stream from
said media stream;
(c) based on said attribute data, requesting information from one or more
databases available in said enterprise; and
(d) based on responses to said information requesting step, routing said
incoming media stream to a resource destination address associated with
said enterprise, and wherein step (d) comprises:
(i) determining a possible resource destination address for routing said
incoming media stream based on said responses;
(ii) determining if the possible resource destination corresponding to said
resource destination address is available for routing said incoming media
stream;
(iii) if said possible resource destination is unavailable for routing said
media stream, repeating steps (i) and (ii);
(iv) if said possible resource destination is available for routing said
media stream, routing said incoming media stream to said available
resource destination.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein step (d) further comprises;
(v) if all said determined possible resource destinations for routing said
incoming media stream are unavailable, routing said incoming media stream
to a default resource destination address.
3. A method for routing an incoming media stream comprising:
(a) receiving a media stream comprised of one of a plurality of media
stream types directed to an enterprise;
(b) determining attribute data characteristic of said media stream from
said media stream;
(c) based on said attribute data, requesting information from one or more
databases available in said enterprise;
(d) based on responses to said information requesting step, routing said
incoming media stream to a resource destination address associated with
said enterprise; and
(e) monitoring reception of said incoming media stream by a resource at
said resource destination address
(f) if said routed media stream has not been received by said resource
within a predetermined time which time is dependent upon at least one of
said media type and said attribute data, repeating steps (c), (d) and (e).
4. The method of claim 3, wherein said attribute data comprises at least
one of:
(i) said type of said media stream;
(ii) address data of said media stream; and
(iii) content data of said media stream.
5. The method of claim 4 wherein said media stream types comprise one of a
voice over internet call, a public switched telephone network call, a
facsimile transmission, an e-mail transmission, a web chat request, a web
form, and a video call.
6. The method of claimed 5 wherein said media stream type comprises an
e-mail and including the step of routing said e-mail with an
acknowledgement receipt request.
7. The method of claim 5 wherein said media stream type comprises a
facsimile transmission and including the step of attaching said facsimile
transmission to an e-mail prior to routing said facsimile transmission.
8. The method of claim 7 including the step of routing said e-mail with
attached facsimile transmission with an acknowledgement receipt request.
9. The method of claim 7 wherein said determining step comprises applying
character recognition to said facsimile transmission to obtain a readable
translation of said facsimile transmission and, analyzing said readable
translation for certain keywords.
10. The method of claim 5 including the step of storing statistics on said
routing of said media stream.
11. A method for routing an incoming media stream comprising:
(a) receiving a media stream comprised of one of a plurality of media
stream types directed to an enterprise;
(b) determining attribute data characteristic of said media stream from
said media stream;
(c) based on said attribute data, requesting information from one or more
databases available in said enterprise; and
(d) based on responses to said information requesting step, routing said
incoming media stream to a resource destination address associated with
said enterprise, and wherein routing said media stream to said resource
destination address comprises:
(A) receiving information from said one or more databases available in said
enterprise;
(B) identifying a plurality of possible resource destination addresses
based on said received information;
(C) ranking said plurality of possible resource destination addresses based
on said attribute data;
(D) determining, by communication with said one or more plurality of
databases available in said enterprise, the availability of a selected
resource destination corresponding to a selected resource destination
address;
(E) if said selected resource destination is available, routing said
incoming media stream to said available resource destination address;
(F) if said selected resource destination is unavailable, repeating items
(D) and
(E) with alternate selected resource destination addresses.
12. A system for routing a plurality of types of media streams received by
an enterprise comprising:
(a) a processor;
(b) a network communications device, in communication with said processor,
for communications with at least one or a data network and a Public
Switched Telephone System ("PSTN");
(c) said network communications device also in communication with one or
more databases of said enterprise;
(d) memory in communication with said processor, said memory adapting said
processor to:
(i) receive an incoming media stream, comprising one of a plurality of
media stream types, from one of said data network and said PSTN;
(ii) identify attribute data characteristic of said media stream;
(iii) based on said attribute data, request possible resource destination
address information from said one or more enterprise databases; and
(iv) route said media stream to a resource destination address based on
responses to said requests;
(v) determine if said routed media stream has been responded to within a
predetermined time;
(vi) if said routed media stream has not been responded to within said
predetermined time frame, performing an alternate action on said media
stream.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein said memory further adapts said
processor to:
(vii) store statistical data with respect to said routing of said incoming
media stream.
14. The method of claim 12 wherein step (vi) comprises performing at least
one of adjusting said media stream's response priority and re-routing said
media stream to a resource destination address within said enterprise.
15. A computer readable medium for routing a plurality of types of media
streams received at an enterprise, said computer readable medium
comprising:
(a) means for receiving the plurality of media stream types from a PSTN and
a data network;
(b) means for communicating with one or more databases of said enterprise;
(c) means for forming attribute data from each of said media streams;
(d) means for requesting data for determining a resource destination
address within said enterprise by communication with said one or more
databases, wherein said means for requesting data for determining a
resource destination address further comprises:
(i) means for receiving responses from said one or more enterprise
databases; and
(ii) means for ranking possible resource destination addresses based on
said received responses;
(e) means for routing said media streams to said resource destination
address; and
(f) means for storing data, said data corresponding to said receiving of
the plurality of media streams and said routing of said media streams, and
wherein said means for forming attribute data comprises means to identify
at least one of said media stream's type, address data and content data.
16. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein said means for
routing comprises:
(i) means for selecting a resource destination address from said ranking;
(ii) means for determining the availability of a resource destination
corresponding to said selected resource destination address;
(iii) if said selected resource destination address is available, routing
said media to said selected resource; and
(iv) if said selected resource destination is unavailable, repeating (I)
and (ii).
17. The computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein said means for
routing further comprises:
(i) means for monitoring reception of said routed media stream by said
selected resource;
(ii) means for determining if said reception has not occurred within a
predetermined time;
(iii) if said reception has not occurred within said predetermined time;
increasing the response priority of said media stream and repeating (d),
(e) and (f).
18. The computer readable medium product of claim 17, further comprising:
(g) means for storing statistical data corresponding to said routed media
stream. |
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Claims |
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Description |
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FIELD OF THE INVENTION
A system and method for handling a variety of media streams are disclosed.
More particularly, a system and method are disclosed that can provide
enterprise-wide routing and, preferably, reporting for a variety of
incoming media streams.
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION
Telephone call centers are known in the art. A call center is used in
allocating telephone calls received from the Public Switched Telephone
Network (PSTN) to be processed by a plurality of call handling personnel
or agents. Call centers are used to route telephone calls requiring
specific services--such as information in a particular language or
information about a product--to an agent capable of providing these
services. Calls are routed to a particular agent by comparing the services
required by the call, determined by, for example, the originating call
information, the number called, menu selections made by the caller, and
the priority of the call, with the resources available to process the call
at the call center, such as personnel, and the skill sets associated with
those personnel.
As calls arrive at the call center, computerized call center equipment
routes incoming calls of a particular call type, that is, those calls that
require identical services, in queues and allocates these calls to
appropriate agents, who have the skill set necessary to process these
calls in the queues. As will be appreciated, an agent may be assigned to
more than one queue.
The calls that are processed by the call center are also tracked by call
center equipment. This tracking provides detailed reporting statistics on
the disposition of each call received by the call center.
The ability to process calls by a call center is limited by the number of
agents that can be accommodated by the call center equipment. Moreover,
the skill sets of the call personnel are often insufficient to
satisfactorily dispose of all the calls received by the call center. For
instance, a call received by a call center designed to attend to calls
regarding catalogue sales would have difficulty in attending to a matter
that is more appropriately handled by a company's legal department.
Furthermore, as will be appreciated, the cost of providing the equipment
and personnel to handle all calls that may be directed to an enterprise
(e.g., a company) is not economically feasible with call center
technology.
Further, a call center attends only to voice telephone calls from the PSTN.
However, businesses receive more than just voice calls directed to the
business in general. These other media streams, including for example,
voice over IP, faxes, electronic mail ("e-mail"), web forms and video, are
not processed in a formalized manner but rather on an ad hoc basis.
Furthermore, the processing of these other media streams, due to the ad
hoc nature of their processing, does not provide the same statistical
processing information that enables a business to analyse and improve its
response to customer inquiries. The current ad hoc methods and systems for
attending to media streams, other than conventional telephone calls,
currently require management control over numerous disparate systems.
Moreover, these disparate systems do not provide a business with a unified
interactive user interface.
Accordingly, it is desired to provide a method and system that can provide
enterprise-wide routing and reporting upon a plurality of media streams
that addresses these shortcomings of known call centers.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A workflow manager (also referred to herein as a media response system)
monitors all media streams incoming to an enterprise, such as voice calls,
e-mail, and fax. Through analysis of an incoming media stream, the manager
develops attribute data for the stream. Based on the attribute data, the
manager queries other systems in the enterprise for further information
which will include candidate resources to handle the incoming stream.
Based on the replies, the incoming stream is routed to a selected
resource.
According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for
routing an incoming media stream comprising: a) receiving a media stream
comprised of one of a plurality of media stream types directed to an
enterprise; b) determining attribute data characteristic of said media
stream from said media stream; c) based on said attribute data, requesting
information from databases available in said enterprise; and d) based on
responses to said information requesting step, routing said incoming media
stream to a resource destination address associated with said enterprise.
The invention also provides a system and computer program product to effect
this method.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention will be more clearly understood after reference to
the following detailed specification read in conjunction with the drawings
which illustrate example embodiments of the invention wherein:
FIG. 1 is schematic of an enterprise including a media response center,
exemplary of a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic detail of a portion of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a schematic detail of a second portion of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a schematic detail of a third portion of FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a schematic detail of a portion of FIG. 2;
FIG. 5a is a functional block diagram for a portion of FIG. 5;
FIG. 6 is data exemplary of a portion of FIG. 4;
FIG. 7 is data exemplary of a second portion of FIG. 4; and
FIGS. 8A, 8B and 8C are flow charts illustrating a portion of the software
control of the system of FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
A workflow manager, or media response system ("MRS"), exemplary of the
invention and designated 100, is shown in FIG. 1. MRS 100 is
interconnected to corporate network 102 and PBX 104. Corporate network 102
and PBX 104 are also in communication with corporate resources 106.
Together MRS 100, corporate network 102, PBX 104 and resources 106 form
enterprise 110. Enterprise 110 represents a non-physical entity. That is,
enterprise 110, could be, for example, a multi-national corporation with
corporate resources and physical locations located world wide. Moreover,
corporate resource 106 can comprise entities that are located outside the
physical locations associated with enterprise 110.
PBX 104 may be a conventional Nortel.TM. Meridian.TM. PBX or other suitable
Private Branch Exchange device for communication with PSTN 120. PBX 104
could alternatively be replaced by another suitable telephony switch which
could form part of PSTN 120.
PBX 104 is in communication with PSTN 120. Connected to PSTN 120 is a
plurality of devices such as telephone stations 122a and 122b (generally
122) and fax machine 124. Telephone stations 122 need not be wired
directly to PSTN 120 but may also be wireless devices connected indirectly
to PSTN 120. Moreover, other devices may communicate with enterprise 110
via PSTN 120 such as computers, video calls and the like.
Corporate network 102 is also in communication with public network 130.
Public network 130 may be the public internet, a data network of the same
or another entity, or the like. In communication with public network 130
is a telephone station 132 for transmitting voice over IP, e-mail
application 134, web browser 136 and video conferencing application 138.
Other applications used for sending messages over a data network, such as
public network 130, may also be used.
FIG. 2 illustrates MRS 100 in greater detail. MRS 100 includes computing
device 200. Computing device 200 is comprised of processor 202 in
communication with each of PBX interface 204, persistent memory 206 and
network interface 208. Computing device 200 may also be able to read data
and programs from computer readable medium 214 for transfer to memory 206.
As illustrated, computer readable medium is a removable disk. However, it
could equally comprise a removable tape or chip. Also, the computer
readable medium could comprise a memory of a remote computer provided
there were an appropriate interconnection between computing devices 200
and the remote computer, such as an internet connection. Also, optionally
connected to computer 200 is display 210 and input device 212. Display 210
may be any known display device such as a monitor or LCD screen. Similarly
input device 212 may include one or more of a mouse, keyboard, microphone
or other suitable input device.
Processor 202 is a conventional central processing unit such as a processor
from the Intel.TM. family of x86 processors. In the alternative, processor
202 could be Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC), such a Sun.TM.
UltraSparc.TM. or a Motorola.TM. PowerPC.TM. or any other suitable
processor capable of adapting processor 202 and computing device 200 to
perform the functions of MRS 100. PBX interface 204, which is in
communication with PBX 104 (FIG. 1), is any suitable interface capable of
sending and receiving data to and from PBX 104 (FIG. 1) and can include an
ethernet interface card or an RS-232 serial port. Memory 206 is any
suitable combination of Random Access Memory ("RAM"), Read Only Memory
("ROM"), magnetic or optical storage media such as hard disk drives.
Network interface 208, which is in communication with corporate network
102 (FIG. 1), can be any suitable interface known by those in the art for
communicating with a data network. Network interface 206 may be an
ethernet, token ring, Asynchronous Transfer Mode ("ATM") or Integrated
Services Digital Network ("ISDN") card. As will be appreciated by those
skilled in the art, while PBX interface 204 and network interface 208 have
been illustrated as consisting of two separate elements, the functions
performed by these interfaces may be performed by a single device.
Illustrated in greater detail in FIG. 3 is corporate network 102. Corporate
network 102 is comprised of the individual systems that typically are
present in a corporate enterprise. Connecting to a network backbone 320 is
Human Resources ("H.R.") system 302; financial system 304; manufacturing
system 306; sales system 308; help desk system 310; e-mail system 312;
shipping and receiving system 314; and MRS 100. While shown to be in
communication with each of the other systems, systems 302-314 need not be
in communication with all the other systems. However, at least some, and
preferably as many as possible of these systems, should be in
communication with MRS 100 either directly or indirectly, through the
corporate network backbone. The backbone 320 also has a connection 322 to
the public network 130 (FIG. 1) through fire wall 324. While backbone 320
is shown in a bus configuration, a star, ring or other suitable topography
may be used. Backbone 320 could be any suitable physical network such as,
for example, co-axial cable or fiber optic cable. Similarly, the network
protocol could be any suitable form of data communication such as
ethernet, token ring, ATM or the like.
Systems 302-314 of corporate network 102 are only illustrative of the types
of systems that may be present in an enterprise environment. Each of
systems 302-314 is comprised of a hardware and a software element. The
hardware elements for systems 302-314 may be proprietary or combination of
known hardware systems comprising one or more of mainframe computers, such
as an IBM.TM. ES9000.TM.; minicomputers, such as a Digital Equipment
Corporation VAX.TM. machine; or network servers such as a Sun.TM.
UltraSparc.TM. station or IBM.TM. Netfinity.TM. servers. The software
components of systems 302-314 could also be comprised of a combination of
proprietary and commercially available software tailored to the particular
enterprise. For example, H.R. system 302 could, for example, be
representative of a system that uses PeopleSoft.TM. software. Financial
system 304 could be using Oracle.TM. software. Manufacturing system 306
could for example be a combination of software available from Baan.TM. or
SAP.TM. corporations. Help desk system could, for example, be implemented
with Remedy.TM., Clarify.TM., Sisbel/Scopus.TM., or Vantive.TM. software.
Mail system 312 may be provided through Microsoft.TM. Exchange.TM..
Similarly shipping and receiving system 314 could be implemented with
Baan.TM., SAP.TM., or PeopleSoft.TM. software.
FIG. 4 details corporate resources 106. Corporate resources 106 are any of
the physical, informational or biological elements of enterprise 110 (FIG.
1). These corporate resources may be used by one or more of the other
constituents of the enterprise. Examples of physical elements that
comprise corporate resources shown in FIG. 4 are telephone handset 410,
which could be connected to PBX 104 (FIG. 1), and fax machine 404. Fax
machine 404 may also be connected to PBX 104, corporate network 102 (FIG.
1) or form part of computing device 200 (FIG. 2). Also forming part of
corporate resources 106 are all of the personnel of enterprise 110. Unlike
call centers where only a portion of the enterprise personnel, namely the
call center agents, are available to the call center system to process an
incoming call, the disclosed invention may have at its disposal all or any
sub-set of the personnel of enterprise 110 (FIG. 1). The informational
resources of corporate resources 106 may include the databases generated
and accessed by systems 302-314 of corporate network 102 (FIG. 3). These
informational resources may include, for example, H.R. database 402
generated and accessed by H.R. system 302 (FIG. 3) or manufacturing
database 406, which is generated and accessed by manufacturing system 306
(FIG. 3). Also forming part of the informational resources of corporate
resources 106 are the programs and applications available on systems
302-314. This may include, for example, e-mail application 412 that is
running on mail system 312 (FIG. 3). The foregoing corporate resources are
merely exemplary and a person skilled in the art would understand that
other resources are available and suitable for use in the operation of MRS
100.
FIG. 5 schematically illustrates memory 206 of computing device 200 (FIG.
2). Memory 206 is comprised of three portions namely operating system 502,
application software 504 and data 506. Operating system 502 is any
suitable operating system capable of adapting computing device 200 into
MRS 100 (FIGS. 1 and 2), such as, for example, Microsoft.TM. Windows.TM.
95, 98 or NT.TM., Sun.TM. .TM. Solaris.TM. or an embodiment of Unix.
Application software 504 comprises network interface software 510; PBX
interface software 512; speech recognition engine 514; Interactive Voice
Response ("IVR") system 516, which includes a DTMF tone recognition
engine; optical character recognition ("OCR") engine 518; database access
software 520; fax software 522; web server software 524; and enterprise
software 526; all of which are in communication with media response system
software 540. Data 506 comprises the work space and miscellaneous storage
area necessary for the operation of MRS 100, as understood by those
skilled in the art, designated 530. Data 506 is also comprised of MRS
database 532.
Network interface software 510 includes a communication suite for
communicating with corporate network 102 (FIG. 1) and may include, for
example, protocols for Internet Protocol ("IP"), Serial Link Internet
Protocol ("SLIP"), and Point to Point Protocol ("PPP"). Network interface
software 510 also includes software necessary to transmit data via network
interface 208.
PBX interface software 512 includes a communication suite for communication
with PBX 104 via PBX interface 204 (FIGS. 1 and 2). Suitable PBX interface
software 512 is embodied in, for example, the Symposium.TM. Call Center
Server of Nortel Technologies.
Speech recognition engine 514 provides functionality to convert received
speech into computer recognizable code. Speech recognition software 514,
such as that available from Dragon Systems of Massachusetts, or
OpenSpeech.TM. of Nortel Technologies, adapts processor 202 (FIG. 2) to
enable conversion of a digitally encoded speech signal received by MRS 100
over public network 130 or PSTN 120, via PBX 104, into computer
recognisable code (FIG. 1). Speech recognition software may also utilize a
digital signal processor (not shown), in communication with processor 202,
to more efficiently process digital speech signals.
IVR system 516 suitably operates to recognize DTMF tones that may be
transmitted to MRS 100. An example of IVR system 516 is Symposium.TM. IVR
and Meridian.TM. IVR, both of Nortel Technologies. Referencing FIG. 1
along with FIG. 5, IVR system 516 enables MRS 100 to recognize and
interpret keypad entries received from telephone stations 122 or 132 sent
via PSTN 120 or public network 130, respectively, that may be received
from users desiring contact with enterprise 110. These keypad entries are
converted into computer recognizable code and, in concert with the
operations of MRS software 540, are used to route an incoming media stream
to a responsive destination. In an alternative embodiment, IVR system 516
forms part of corporate resources 106 that is accessible by MRS 100.
OCR engine 518, such as InText from Xerox Corporation, or other suitable
software known to those skilled in the art, recognizes and converts
graphical images that include alphanumeric characters into an
electronically readable form. For instance, a fax received by MRS 100,
through fax software 522, will be received in a graphical format, such as,
for example, a TIF or GIF formatted file. A graphical image of this sort
does not provide any useable data that can assist in routing the fax to a
responsive destination within enterprise 110 (FIG. 1). However, by
converting the received fax into a more suitable form, such as, for
example an ASCII or RTF file by operation of OCR engine 518, information
may be gleaned from this form of the received fax to properly route the
fax through enterprise 110.
Database access software 520 enables MRS software 540 to query and receive
responses to those queries from exemplary databases 402 and 406, as well
as those databases associated with systems 304 and 308-314. If, for
example, exemplary databases 402 and 406 (FIG. 4) have been generated and
are accessible through Oracle.TM. software, then database access software
520 would receive requests generated by MRS software 540 and convert these
requests into queries accepted by the Oracle.TM. software. Database access
software 520 may, in the alternative be an ODBC software layer or other
similarly suitable database access software program. In such, an instance
databases 402 and 406 should be ODBC compliant.
Fax software 522, in concert with PBX interface software 512 and network
interface software 510 receives faxes sent to enterprise 110, over PSTN
120 and public network 130 (FIG. 1). Fax software 522 enables MRS software
540 to receive and route an incoming fax to a destination within
enterprise 110, in co-operation with network interface software 510 and
corporate network 102 (FIG. 1). Fax software 522 may also receive fax
responses to these incoming faxes, which responses originate from within
enterprise 110. Such "in-house" faxes are then routed and transmitted by
fax software 522 to a requested destination via public network 130 or PSTN
120. Should an in-house fax be destined for an address identifying a
location associated with public network 130, the in-house fax will, in
conjunction with the operation of network interface software 510, be
transmitted over corporate network 102 and then routed to public network
130. However, should the in-house fax be destined for an address, or
destination number ("DN"), associated with PSTN 120, the in-house fax may
be transmitted to PSTN 120 through the operation of PBX 104 and PBX
interface software 512. Alternatively, a PSTN-destined fax may be sent to
PSTN 120 by transmitting the in-house fax to fax machine 404 (FIG. 4) over
corporate network 102. In such a case, fax machine 404 would be directly
connected to PSTN 120, rather than connecting indirectly through PBX 104.
In an alternative embodiment, fax software 522 forms part of corporate
resources 106 rather than part of MRS 100. In this embodiment fax software
522 would be available for use by MRS software 540 over corporate network
102.
Web server software 524, such as, for example, Microsoft.TM. IIS or
Apache.TM. server software, accepts incoming media streams transmitted to
enterprise 110 from the world wide web portion of public network 130 (FIG.
1). For example, a customer of enterprise 110 may make a request through a
web-based form situated on the web site of enterprise 110. Receipt of the
data contained in said form by web server software 524 will be relayed to
MRS software 540 for routing and tracking. Similarly, a request may be
made to commence a "chat" session, or a voice over IP ("VoIP") connection
over the world wide web. Such requests are received, via public and
corporate networks 130 and 102, respectively, and, in conjunction with the
operation of network interface software 510, interpreted and relayed to
MRS software 540 by web server software 524. As will be appreciated by
those skilled in the art, web server software 524 need not form part of
MRS 100 but could, in an alternative embodiment, be part of a separate
system that is in communication with MRS 100, through, for example,
backbone 320.
Enterprise software 526 represents other software that is available for use
by MRS software 540. As disclosed above, part of the exemplary corporate
resources 106 is e-mail application 412 (FIG. 4). E-mail application 412
would contain address lists corresponding to the e-mail addresses of the
personnel of enterprise 110. Moreover, MRS software 540 can use the
facilities of e-mail application 412 to route an incoming media stream to
personnel connected to mail system 312 via e-mail application 412.
Enterprise software 526 could also include scheduling software, such as
Microsoft.TM. SchedulePlus and such as is embodied in PeopleSoft.TM.,
Baan.TM., and SAP.TM. to determine the availability of personnel. For
instance, accessing enterprise software 526 by MRS software 540 may assist
in determining which personnel are on holidays. Other software that may
comprise part of enterprise software 526 is facility access software, such
as is produced by Honeywell, to determine whether a particular employee is
on-site by accessing the logs of the facility access software. As those
skilled in the art will appreciate, enterprise software 526 can include a
wide variety of software applications and databases.
MRS database 532 also stores business rules for the querying of systems
302-314 and for analysing the responses to these queries. The business
rules of MRS database 532 are designed to reflect the business environment
of enterprise 110 (FIG. 1). The business rules of MRS database 532 are
used by MRS software 540 to analyse the data of the incoming media stream
and formulate queries to determine the appropriate routing of the incoming
media stream. Moreover, upon receipt of the responses to these queries,
the business rules are used by MRS software 540 to analyse the responses
to assess the information and rank possible destinations for the incoming
media stream.
MRS software 540, when operating with MRS database 532, creates the agents
illustrated in FIG. 5a. Turning to FIG. 5a, the operating MRS software
comprises communication services 550, integration services 560, and
process management 570. The communication services 550 comprises a data
driven tool manager 552. The integration services 560 comprises resourc | | |
