Telephonic communications – Diagnostic testing – malfunction indication – or electrical... – Testing of subscriber loop or terminal
Reexamination Certificate
1997-09-25
2001-07-17
Tsang, Fan (Department: 2645)
Telephonic communications
Diagnostic testing, malfunction indication, or electrical...
Testing of subscriber loop or terminal
C379S266070, C379S309000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06263049
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus usable in connection with supervising a call center and in particular a computer-implemented method and apparatus permitting a telephone call center supervisor to schedule monitoring of agents in a non-random fashion.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
A number of businesses and other organizations provide call centers in which a plurality of personnel answer calls, such as telephone calls or other inquiries, e.g. from customers or potential customers. Call centers serve a number of functions including facilitating the placement of orders for goods or services, providing information about products or the status of orders, receiving customer complaints or suggestions, dispensing product or technical information to assist customers in selecting or using products or services and the like.
Many such call centers are configured so that the telephone or other communications facilities manned by the call center personnel are coupled via a computer controlled system, e.g. for routing calls to available agents or other personnel. In the past, some such systems have included methods or devices for facilitating supervision and/or monitoring the performance of such agents. For example, some devices are configured to collect, store and/or analyze statistical data such as number of calls, average length of calls, length of time on hold and the like. Some devices include facilities for recording communications, such as telephone calls, of the agents or other personnel.
While previous systems of this type for facilitating supervision of call centers may have been adequate in many situations, it is believed that, for at least some call centers, there is a need for improved supervision support to provide for greater supervisor control of monitoring functions, facilitate the analysis or review of recorded conversations, record associated data in addition to audio conversation, and the like.
Specifically, some previous systems were configured to select random times (within time ranges) at which to commence next-call monitoring. It is believed that in some situations providing for randomness undesirably diminishes the amount of control supervisors have on scheduling of monitoring, particularly since call centers already have at least a first degree of randomness owing to the random nature of the times when calls arrive at a call center. It is believed this randomness is augmented when a second degree of randomness is generated by a computer, thus reducing the control over monitoring which can be exercised by supervisors.
Some previous systems do not allow for full flexibility in selecting monitoring parameters, such as by providing a system in which monitoring time intervals (such as date ranges) always apply to two or more agents.
Some systems are believed to undesirably limit the supervisors' monitoring flexibility by requiring that monitoring sessions have a predetermined duration limit so that once a duration of monitoring is exceeded, no further new calls will be monitored until the next scheduled monitoring. Some previous systems permit a supervisor to playback or otherwise review a recorded monitoring session but do not adequately facilitate the review or analysis of portions of the monitored session that might be deemed particularly significant.
Some previous devices provide for recording conversation by monitoring a line for voice detection and recording when there is at least a predetermined signal level on the line. Such a configuration, however, is useful only for recording, not playback, functions and thus a separate playback system is necessary when playback functionality over a telephone system is desired.
A number of previous devices were designed for use in call centers, and thus were not provided with features which may be desired or needed in other contexts such as field representatives, knowledge workers, executives, outside sales persons and the like.
Accordingly, it would be useful to provide a call center supervisory method and apparatus with enhanced monitoring scheduling flexibility, enhanced review or analysis capabilities and generally providing feature which facilitate supervisory functions, preferably in a system which is easy to use and economical to design, produce, maintain and use.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a computer-implemented method and apparatus with enhanced monitoring scheduling capabilities. In one embodiment, a supervisor is allowed to separately designate at least one and, preferably, several, monitoring schedules for each agent (i.e. each person or station to be monitored) with the capability of creating schedules and/or defining rules such that, if desired, no two agents need have the same defined monitoring interval. Preferably the supervisor controls the factors that determine which calls will be recorded, rather than letting the computer select (e.g. randomly select) monitor start times. In one embodiment the supervisor may determine that every Nth call is to be monitored, wherein N can have any of a number of different values such as determining whether every call will be recorded, every second call, every third call and the like. Preferably the supervisor can make this designation individually for each agent, and more preferably, individually for each of a plurality of monitoring schedules of each agent (where plural monitoring schedules are provided). In one embodiment the user can determine whether certain types of calls, e.g. incoming, outgoing or internal calls, will be monitored. Preferably, recording takes place without limitation as to duration so that, e.g., within the predefined monitoring schedule for an agent, if a supervisor determines that, e.g., every call is to be monitored during that time period, the system will record all consecutive calls for that agent until disk space or other recording or hardware capabilities of the system are exceeded even if, e.g., the first call by the agent happens to be a particularly long-duration call.
Preferably the system includes enhancements to make it easier for a supervisor to review, analyze or play recorded monitored sessions, e.g. for agent training or evaluation purposes or quality control procedures. In one embodiment, the supervisor may mark one or more locations within the recorded message for later playback so that, at a later time, the supervisor, in playing back the monitored session, can readily skip to portions of interest. Preferably the supervisor may attach monitored sessions to other computer records (such as personnel records). Preferably the supervisor may edit call records as needed.
Preferably, security features, such as passwords and/or unique logins, are included to prevent unauthorized access to records, such as by associating particular agents with particular supervisors and preventing supervisors from reviewing records of agents with which those supervisors are not associated.
In some call centers, agents work not only with telephone devices but also with computers which may provide order placement screens, product information databases and the like. In one embodiment the system is configured to record images or other indications of the contents of screens, or portions thereof that were viewed or used by an agent during a monitored conversation, preferably associating those images with a recorded conversation so that a supervisor may review both the recorded conversation and the screen which was viewed or used by the agent during the monitored session.
In one configuration, recording and/or playback of conversations is achieved using a conference bridge thus providing for a single configuration which is useable for both recording and playback.
In one embodiment, the system provides features which are not limited, in their usefulness, to call centers, but also provide features which permit a single system to be used, not only in a call center context, but by other professional workers, corporate workers, executives and the like. For example, in one embodiment the system is configured to facilit
Envision Telephony, Inc.
Foster Roland G.
Sheridan & Ross P.C.
Tsang Fan
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