Telephonic communications – Centralized switching system – Call distribution to operator
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-05
2001-01-23
Smith, Creighton (Department: 2742)
Telephonic communications
Centralized switching system
Call distribution to operator
C379S265080, C379S309000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06178240
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to a system for entertaining callers waiting in a queue and more particularly, to a system for offering such callers a plurality of entertainment options, such as the option to make a third party telephone call.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Telephone-based customer service plays an increasingly important role for organizations involved in activities requiring direct communication with customers. In order to serve a maximum number of callers, call centers are typically designed to optimize call handling efficiency and telephone attendant productivity. Many conventional systems allow telephone attendants to service a greater number of callers by ascertaining the nature of a caller's request through collection, by a live attendant, of initial information from the caller, and transferring the call to a voice response unit to address the specific request of the caller. Other systems reverse the answer and collection process by connecting the caller initially to a voice response unit which collects information on the nature of a caller's request, which is ultimately used to route the call to an appropriate attendant.
An Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) is commonly utilized by call centers to enhance attendant productivity. An ACD allows a call center to cost-effectively handle a large number of calls by placing some of the calls in a holding queue when no attendants are available. When a call is placed in the holding queue, a greeting message identifying the called party is typically played to the caller, indicating that the next available attendant will service the call.
Call queuing plays an important role in call center operations and provides many advantages to the call center, including increased attendant productivity, by minimizing idle time for the attendant, simultaneous handling of a greater number of calls during an increase in calls, and encouragement of callers to wait for an available attendant, as opposed to requiring the caller to attempt another call in response to a busy signal. Call queuing, however, is perceived by customers to be a waste of their time, and may result in frustration, abandoned calls, a loss of business, and poor customer satisfaction when the holding time is deemed excessive.
Thus, in order to entertain callers waiting in a call queue, many call centers play music, news, weather or advertising messages to the caller during the holding period.
In this manner, the caller may be entertained or informed of sales promotions for particular products or services. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,774 to Friedes discloses an Interactive Queuing System For Call Centers and suggests that music or advertising messages may be played to a caller on hold.
Unfortunately, such conventional call queuing entertainment systems have experienced only marginal success in satisfying callers placed in a holding queue. Since most callers can already access such conventional and freely available programming sources directly from their home, such programming is generally not a sufficient novelty or value to the caller, nor does it allow the caller to make effective use of the holding time, and it generally does not minimize the frustration experienced by the caller as a result of an excessive hold time.
Although it would be desirable for call centers to provide callers with a plurality of entertainment options, conventional systems for entertaining callers placed on hold by a call center do not permit a caller to select a desired entertainment option. If a call center could provide a caller with a number of valuable entertainment options while on hold, caller satisfaction and tolerance of excessive hold times would increase. In addition, the improved entertainment system could be advantageously marketed by the call center as an added customer service benefit.
As apparent from the above deficiencies with conventional systems for entertaining callers placed on hold by a call center, a need exists for an entertainment system that allows callers to receive a valuable entertainment option while on hold, such as the option to place a call to a third party, or access premium entertainment services such as shared-revenue telephone services. If a caller accesses the call center using a video phone, a further need exists for an entertainment system that allows the caller to access premium entertainment services which include video content, such as pay-per-view services. If the caller is connected to a support provider via the Internet, a need exists for a system which provides premium web content while on hold.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Generally, according to one aspect of the invention, a caller placed in a queue of a call center will be permitted to access an entertainment option while on hold. The entertainment options permits the caller to (i) place a free or subsidized call to a third party; or (ii) access one or more premium entertainment services. A premium entertainment service is a service for which a fee is charged for the use of that service. According to a further aspect of the invention, access to the entertainment options can be provided to a caller on a complimentary basis, or for an additional payment which may be less than the typical cost of such a service.
A call handling process is disclosed which incorporates features of the invention to allow the call center to (i) route a call to an appropriate attendant console within a pool of attendants, (ii) transfer calls to an interactive voice response unit (IVRU) when no attendants are available to service calls, (iii) place a call in a holding queue, if needed, and (iv) provide a caller on hold with access to the entertainment options.
A caller at a station set, such as a conventional telephone, video phone or personal computer configured with appropriate telephony software and Internet connectivity, places a call to the call center. The call is routed via the public telephone network to the call center in a conventional manner. The call is preferably processed within the call center to a Private Branch Exchange switch (PBX) with Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) capability. The PBX/ACD is preferably connected to an interactive voice response unit (IVRU).
The PBX/ACD is a switching system designed to receive calls destined for the call center, and queue the calls when an appropriate attendant is not available. In addition, the PBX/ACD distributes calls to attendants to ensure even call handling loads among attendants, in a known manner. The ACD functionality can be integrated with the PBX, or provided by a separate unit.
The IVRU is a voice information system arranged to prompt a caller for specific information and forward the collected information to the PBX/ACD. In addition, the IVRU preferably provides a greeting to the caller identifying the called party, announces that the call will be handled by the next available attendant and provides the caller with an estimate of the holding period.
According to one aspect of the invention, the IVRU provides the caller with a menu of available entertainment options which can be accessed by the caller while the caller is on hold. Preferably, the available entertainment options permit the caller (i) to place a free or subsidized call to a third party while on hold; or (ii) to access premium entertainment services while on hold.
Upon receipt of the caller's selection, the PBX/ACD establishes a connection to the selected entertainment option. If the caller has selected to place a call to a third party while on hold, the caller is preferably prompted by the IVRU to enter the telephone number of the third party to be called. If the caller has selected a particular premium entertainment service, the PBX/ACD accesses a content database to retrieve information required to access the selected content provider. A connection is thereafter established by the PBX/ACD between the caller and the selected entertainment option.
Once the connection is established, the caller is presented with the selected entertainment
Jorasch James A.
Sparico Thomas M.
Walker Jay S.
Buckley Patrick J.
Levin Nathaniel
Smith Creighton
Walker Digital, LLC
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