Call center posting program

Details Call center posting program Call center posting program

1999-05-13

2002-12-10

Matar, Ahmad F. (Department: 2642)

Telephonic communications

Centralized switching system

Call distribution to operator

C379S265010, C379S265020, C379S265040, C379S265090

Reexamination Certificate

active

06493446

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to call-center telecommunications and more particularly to a system for scheduling remote call-center agents for a plurality of call center clients.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Call centers handle an increasing volume of telephonic inquiries for sales, information, customer support and other services. Typical call centers provide the ability to route a plurality of incoming, customer-initiated calls to call agents which provide sales, information, or support. An automatic call distributor (“ACD”) is utilized to selectively route the incoming calls. An ACD generally refers to a device that receives incoming calls, answers with a taped announcement, holds the calls with background music or a message, then automatically assigns the call on a first come first serve basis to the next available call agent. However, newer ACD systems selective route the incoming calls based on various additional information such as the number of calls, the number of the caller, the geographic location of the caller, past caller data, and other relevant criteria. Once the ACD has evaluated the inbound caller's information, if any, the ACD then searches for an available call agent to service the call. The number of agents within the call center is often limited by the office space available for the agents to operate. A frequent problem experienced by call centers is the situation where there too few call agents to handle the number of incoming customer calls. In those situations, the customer is frequently put on hold and made to wait until a call agent becomes available. However, many potential customers, when faced with an extended wait, may simply terminate the call before the call center has the opportunity to conduct a business transaction, thereby causing an economic loss. Additionally, customers calling for support or information may become disgruntled or unsatisfied with a business that is unable to provide a sufficient number of call agents to service the call in a timely manner.
For most applications, an agent requires both a voice and data connection. The agent audibly communicates with the customer through a typical telephone line connection and records whatever transactions take place through a computer terminal networked to the call center's record system. Modern advancements in the field of electronics, computers and telecommunications have created standardized network protocols and hardware, yielding a constantly advancing global information infrastructure. Local area networks (“LANs”) based in a single geographic location have given rise to wide area networks (“WANs”) which efficiently interconnect information systems between large geographic distances. Both home and business computers currently sold offer integrated or optional components to communicate through standard networks including the Internet.
Many problems experienced in conventional call centers are rooted in the fact that operations are both physically and geographically confined. Large call centers may select a geographically attractive location only to find a limited workforce in that area. Large call centers typically pay for the training of their call agents and simultaneously experience a high turnover rate. Furthermore, should the customer initiated call exceed the capacity of the call center, physical expansion of the facilities is costly.
Hence there have been recent developments in the field of telecommunications to enable remote agents (sometimes called “home agents”) to service overflow or regular customer initiated incoming calls. The benefits are obvious. Remote agents may work from home reducing the cost of maintaining large call center locations. The equipment and software needed to implement remote communications are widely available. Remote agents gain the benefit of forgoing commuting to a geographically distant office, avail themselves of flexible schedules, reduce the burden of reliance on child care or other similar circumstances. Furthermore, remote agent opportunities are particularly beneficial to persons with disabilities who may have special needs and require more flexible working conditions and schedules.
The present invention is directed to a system for coordinating, scheduling and evaluating a plurality of remotely located agents by a plurality of different call centers. The system provides a call center the ability to forecast and schedule its workload requirements utilizing home-based remotely located agents. Time slots are posted on the system so that remotely located agents may sign up for the available slots for accepting calls through a wide area network (“WAN”).
An object of this invention is to provide a novel method for scheduling independent remotely located agents utilized by one or more call centers which share the remotely located agents.
Previous attempts have been made to provide scheduling and forwarding for call center agents such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,825,869 to Brooks et al. (the '869 patent); U.S. Pat. No. 5,499,291 to Kepley (the '291 patent); U.S. Pat. No. 5,459,780 to Sand (the '780 patent); U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,093 to Trefzger (the '093 patent); U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,345 to Otto (the '345 patent); U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,260 to Shaio (the '260 patent); U.S. Pat. No. 5,291,551 to Conn et al. (the '551 patent); U.S. Pat. No. 5,206,903 to Kohler et al. (the '903 patent); U.S. Pat. No. 5,185,780 to Leggett (the '780 patent); all of which are incorporate herein by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,825,869 to Brooks et al. (the '869 patent) describes a call-management method and system for distributing calls to ACD agents comprising a customer telephone, a public switch, a connection between the public switch and a PBX, a series of ACD switching circuits within the PBX connected to a dynamic skills-based router, an agent telephone connected to the ACD switching circuits, whereby the dynamic skills-based router stores data referencing an individual agent's call handling capabilities. These capabilities may include technical knowledge, foreign language skills, or other such specialization. A skill level required for the call is evaluated and a priority level is placed on the call. The system attempts to correlate the skills needed with an appropriate agent in the database. However, if no agent with the appropriate skill level is available, then the system places the call in queue until the appropriate agent is available.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,499,291 to Kepley (the '291 patent) describes a call-management system for a call center comprising a plurality of terminals attended by agents. A call management system is controlled by an administrator and determines the work schedules for a plurality of call center agents by communications via an ACD PBX to their terminals or by voice to their headsets. The call management system also monitors the agent's adherence to the schedule for evaluation purposes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,459,780 to Sand (the '780 patent) describes a work at home agent ACD comprising an ACD host switch, an agent switch, an intelligent agent workstation, a data network, a home agent server (“HAS”), a host processor, and a management information system (“MIS”), whereby call traffic routed through a PSTN is distributed by the ACD host switch to the agent switch and received by the workstation. The workstation receives voice signals from the agent switch and also transmits connection status, order processing, and other information via the data network to the HAS. The HAS transmits the data to a host processor which in turn communicates with the MIS which monitors the distribution traffic and controls the ACD host switch to optimize call distribution, particularly when caller traffic justifies maintaining an open voice path to the remote agent to reduce call setup time.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,093 to Trefzger (the '093 patent) describes an integrated ACD and automatic dialer system comprising one or more inbound trunks connected to a plurality of u

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