Telephonic communications – Centralized switching system – Call distribution to operator
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-29
2004-08-03
Matar, Ahmad F. (Department: 2642)
Telephonic communications
Centralized switching system
Call distribution to operator
C379S265120, C379S265130, C379S266020
Reexamination Certificate
active
06771765
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of customer contact or call centers.
2. Background Information
A customer call centers is used by an organization to answer telephone calls regarding sales and services provided by the organization, technical support, and other information. The customer call center includes a number of agents that stand by and provide support on behalf of the organization. Typically, the customer call center receives incoming telephone calls, and queues the calls to one or more groups of agents in the order of receipt and priority using, for example, information about the customer (e.g., caller identification “CLID” signal, information provided in an interactive voice response session, etc.). The agents in the group to which the calls are assigned are presented with the calls, answering them in the order of priority.
With the advent of the Internet, communication has rapidly expanded to on-line e-mails, web forms, and the like. Consequently, organizations have also implemented email servers for handling on-line communications regarding customer support, placement of order, etc. The e-mails and web forms are also replied to by agents of the organization typically on a first-come first-serve and/or priority basis, as, for example, determined automatically by the subject or content of the e-mail or web form.
Each transaction or media type such as voice calls and on-line communications typically has its own queuing mechanism or system, requiring the organization to separately administer the different systems. Moreover, with different systems, the “blending” of transactions becomes more difficult, often leading to poor quality reporting.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a method, apparatus, and system that overcomes the aforementioned drawbacks.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention comprises a method for a server. In one embodiment, the method includes receiving a first contact request of a first source, queuing the first contact request in a pending queue of a first of one or more skillsets, and connecting a first agent assigned to the first skillset to the first source. The method further includes receiving a second contact request of a second source, where the first and second contact requests are of different media requests, queuing the second contact request in the pending queue of a second of the one or more skillsets, and connecting a second agent to the second source.
Other embodiments are described and claimed herein.
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“The Call Center Revolution,” Technical Paper 3COM, Northeast Consulting, 1997, pps. A, 1-11, “Multimedia Call Centers,” pp. 4-5, “Virtual Call Center Requirements,” p. 9.
Crowther Jonathan M.
Montemurro Michael P.
Al Aubaidi Rasha
Blakely & Sokoloff, Taylor & Zafman
Matar Ahmad F.
Nortel Networks Limited
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