Telephonic communications – Centralized switching system – Call distribution to operator
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-12
2002-11-12
Hong, Harry S. (Department: 2642)
Telephonic communications
Centralized switching system
Call distribution to operator
C379S212010, C379S266070, C379S266100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06480601
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to call centers and more particularly, to a method and system for transferring telephone calls from an outbound call platform to an inbound call platform.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A growing number of companies have begun using call centers (or contact centers) to handle interactions between customers and potential customers by way of telephone and/or the internet. Companies typically use call centers to provide inbound services, for example, to handle queries from customers to customer service representatives (CSRs), and/or outbound services, for example, to manage outbound telephone calls to potential customers for telemarketing or to existing customers for collections.
Many call centers use one hardware platform for performing outbound dialing and another hardware platform for inbound call processing. The outbound platform typically includes a predictive dialer for automatically dialing the customers or potential customers. The inbound call platform typically includes an automatic call distributor (ACD) that performs the inbound call processing. Different groups of agents are connected to the outbound platform and the inbound platform for handling the outbound calls and inbound calls respectively.
Although two separate hardware platforms may be used for inbound and outbound telephone calls in a call center, a customer contacted by the outbound call platform may want to speak with an agent connected to the inbound call platform. For example, a customer may be called for not making a payment, and that customer may state that the reason is because the product is not working. In this case, the outbound agent would want to transfer the customer to an inbound agent handling customer service and support.
In the existing systems, the voice of the customer is transferred from the outbound platform to an appropriate agent connected to the inbound call platform. The inbound agent must then ask the customer for the account information and must manually input this data in order to obtain additional data pertaining to the customer's account. This process is inconvenient for the customer and requires extra work from the agent.
Accordingly, a need exists for a method and system of transferring voice and data from an outbound call platform to a separate inbound call hardware platform automatically without requiring the agent to request information and input information manually.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention features a method of transferring voice and data from an outbound call platform to an inbound call platform. The outbound call platform includes a dialer and a plurality of outbound agent workstations. The inbound call platform includes a plurality of inbound agent workstations.
According to the method of the present invention, at least one outbound telephone call is placed to a called party using the dialer in the outbound call platform. The outbound telephone call is then connected to an available outbound agent at one of the outbound agent workstations. When the available outbound agent determines that the called party needs to be handled by an inbound agent connected to the inbound call platform, the outbound telephone call is transferred to a reserved extension on the inbound call platform. A call identifier is then assigned to the outbound telephone call when the outbound telephone call arrives at the reserved extension on the inbound call platform. The outbound telephone call is then connected to an available inbound agent at one of the inbound agent workstations in the inbound call platform. The called party data is correlated to the outbound telephone call using the call identifier and is transferred to the inbound agent workstation.
The inbound call platform and outbound call platform are preferably connected using at least one communication path. The step of transferring the outbound telephone call to the extension on the inbound call platform further comprises the steps of initiating a call on the communication path to the predetermined extension, and connecting the outbound telephone call to the communication path.
According to one method, the outbound telephone call is transferred to an ACD queue before connecting the outbound telephone call to the available inbound agent.
The present invention also features a call center comprising an outbound call platform for placing outbound telephone calls, an inbound call platform for handling inbound telephone calls, a controlling device, at least one communication path between the inbound and outbound call platforms, and a controlling device coupled to the outbound call platform and the inbound call platform using CTI links. The outbound call platform includes a dialer for placing outbound telephone calls to called parties and a plurality of outbound agent workstations, linked to the dialer, for use by a plurality of outbound agents. The dialer connects the outbound telephone calls to available outbound agents at the outbound agent workstations. The inbound call platform includes an automatic call distributor (ACD) handling inbound telephone calls, and a plurality of inbound agent workstations, linked to the ACD, for use by a plurality of inbound agents. The inbound telephone calls are connected to available inbound agents at the inbound agent workstations.
The controlling device instructs the outbound call platform to initiate a call on the communication path to a reserved extension on the inbound call platform and instructs the outbound call platform to connect one of said outbound telephone calls to the communication path such that a called party on one of the outbound telephone calls is transferred to one of the inbound agents. The controlling device correlates called party data pertaining to the called party with the outbound telephone call transferred to the inbound agent.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5467391 (1995-11-01), Donaghue et al.
patent: 5761285 (1998-06-01), Stent
patent: 6324263 (2001-11-01), Sherwood et al.
Bourque & Associates P.A.
Concerto Software, Inc.
Hong Harry S.
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