Telephonic communications – Centralized switching system – Call distribution to operator
Reexamination Certificate
1997-09-30
2002-10-15
Matar, Ahmad (Department: 2642)
Telephonic communications
Centralized switching system
Call distribution to operator
C345S215000, C345S215000, C345S960000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06466663
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates generally to telecommunications systems and, more particularly, to a monitoring system client for a call center.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A typical call center includes a number of agents who field inbound telephone calls and place outbound telephone calls. Each agent has an associated station that includes a personal computer or workstation, a phone pad and a head set. The agent may place outbound sales calls or field inbound calls (such as 800 number calls) from potential customers. The agents are organized into groups and the agents have supervisors, who are responsible for supervising the agents. Each agent may receive or place calls for different business clients.
One of the difficulties encountered in such a call center is the difficulty of monitoring the phone activity of the agents. It is difficult for a supervisor to obtain useful information about the activities of agents in a timely fashion. Such a lack of information makes it difficult for a supervisor to properly manage the agents and increase the profitability of the call center. In general, a supervisor must perform manual analysis and calculation to obtain useful data regarding agent performance.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention addresses the limitations of the prior art by providing a computerized monitoring system for monitoring activities of agents within a call center. The monitoring system may display status information and statistics regarding agent activity as part of a graphical user interface. The graphical user interface may include graphical as well as textual information to display the information in a useful and intuitive format. The monitoring system may enable a supervisor to view information regarding all of the agents under supervision. In addition, multiple views may be available via the monitoring system. For example, a view that depicts all of the agents in the call center may be available as well as views that depict selected subsets of the agents within the call center.
In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention a method of monitoring activity of an agent within a call center is practiced on a computer system. A graphical user interface is displayed on a display device that depicts at least a portion of the physical layout of the call center. Status information regarding the activity of an agent is received, and graphical information about the agent is displayed as part of the graphical user interface, where the graphical information provides a visual cue of the received status information to a user of the computer.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a method is practiced in a computer system that has a display device. A user interface that depicts agent stations for at least a selected portion of the call center is displayed on the display device. Information about calling activity at agent stations of the call center is received. Information about the calling activity of the agent stations in the selected portion of the call center is displayed as part of the user interface. The information is displayed in proximity to the depiction of the agent station in the user interface.
In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention statistics regarding handling of calls by agents are provided in a computer system. The statistics are displayed on a display device on a per agent basis.
In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention a method of monitoring calling activity by agents in a call center is practiced in the computer system. The system identifies which agents are supervised by a supervisor and displays calling activity information about the agents and a single view on the display device.
In accordance with an additional aspect of the present invention, a call center that processes calls on behalf of a client includes agent stations where agents are stationed to process calls. The call center also includes a server for generating information regarding calling activity by agents. The call center includes a computer system that has an output device and a program for producing a graphical user interface. Information regarding calling activity is received from a server. The user determines what view of the call center is displayed by the computer system. Each view depicts a subset of the agent stations in the call center. A graphical user interface is displayed that depicts each of the agent stations within the determined view. Information about the calling activity of agent stations and the determined view is displayed as part of the graphical user interface.
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“Centre Vu™Solutions Management Tools for Enhancing Call Center Performance”, Lucent Technol
Atkinson Wesley Jon
Baxter Craig Alan
Kaley Craig
McDuff Richard
Ravenscroft Don
Matar Ahmad
Tieu Benny Q.
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