CA2069574C - Automatic customer call back for automatic call distribution systems - Google Patents
Automatic customer call back for automatic call distribution systemsInfo
- Publication number
- CA2069574C CA2069574C CA002069574A CA2069574A CA2069574C CA 2069574 C CA2069574 C CA 2069574C CA 002069574 A CA002069574 A CA 002069574A CA 2069574 A CA2069574 A CA 2069574A CA 2069574 C CA2069574 C CA 2069574C
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- call
- available
- agent
- telephone
- acd
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired - Fee Related
Links
Classifications
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
- H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
- H04M3/50—Centralised arrangements for answering calls; Centralised arrangements for recording messages for absent or busy subscribers ; Centralised arrangements for recording messages
- H04M3/51—Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing
- H04M3/523—Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing with call distribution or queueing
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
- H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
- H04M3/48—Arrangements for recalling a calling subscriber when the wanted subscriber ceases to be busy
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04Q—SELECTING
- H04Q11/00—Selecting arrangements for multiplex systems
- H04Q11/04—Selecting arrangements for multiplex systems for time-division multiplexing
- H04Q11/0428—Integrated services digital network, i.e. systems for transmission of different types of digitised signals, e.g. speech, data, telecentral, television signals
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M2201/00—Electronic components, circuits, software, systems or apparatus used in telephone systems
- H04M2201/40—Electronic components, circuits, software, systems or apparatus used in telephone systems using speech recognition
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M2242/00—Special services or facilities
- H04M2242/22—Automatic class or number identification arrangements
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
- H04M3/22—Arrangements for supervision, monitoring or testing
- H04M3/36—Statistical metering, e.g. recording occasions when traffic exceeds capacity of trunks
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
- H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
- H04M3/42025—Calling or Called party identification service
- H04M3/42034—Calling party identification service
- H04M3/42059—Making use of the calling party identifier
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
- H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
- H04M3/50—Centralised arrangements for answering calls; Centralised arrangements for recording messages for absent or busy subscribers ; Centralised arrangements for recording messages
- H04M3/51—Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing
- H04M3/523—Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing with call distribution or queueing
- H04M3/5231—Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing with call distribution or queueing with call back arrangements
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
- H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
- H04M3/50—Centralised arrangements for answering calls; Centralised arrangements for recording messages for absent or busy subscribers ; Centralised arrangements for recording messages
- H04M3/51—Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing
- H04M3/523—Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing with call distribution or queueing
- H04M3/5238—Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing with call distribution or queueing with waiting time or load prediction arrangements
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04Q—SELECTING
- H04Q3/00—Selecting arrangements
- H04Q3/72—Finding out and indicating number of calling subscriber
Abstract
An automatic call distribution system wherein, when no agent is immediately available, and the calculated delay before an agent is likely to become available is above a predetermined threshold, a record is made of the calling number (either received as part of call set up or inputs from the caller), and the record is queued. When an agent becomes available, or after a predetermined time, the ACD
removes the top entry from the queue, places a call to the received calling number, and presents the call to an available agent.
removes the top entry from the queue, places a call to the received calling number, and presents the call to an available agent.
Description
_ 1 Automatic Cu~lu.~er Call Back for Automatic Call Distribution Systems Technical Field This invention relates to ~lltom~tic call distributors (ACDs) and, more S specifically, to an arr~ngement for autom~tic~lly calling back customers in lieu of placing the c~stom~rs on hold.
Ba~b~,. o.~..d of the I~ ..ti~..
~ utom~tic call distributors (ACDs) provide b--sinesses with a system for routing incoming customer calls to an available operator or agent. There may be one 10 ACD to handle a limited region for example, concert ticket sales, or there may be a plurality of ACDs connected together, but separated from each other, for handling a large-volume national business, (for example, airline ticket sales). Such systems are known and used in the art and provide b-l~inesses with a greater incoming call h~n~11inp capacity.
There are times, however, when even the large distributed ACD systems become flooded with calls so that incoming calls cannot be h~ntlle~ immçf1i~tely. In these cases, an incoming call is norm~lly placed "on hold" and queued for the next available agent. A ~;u~lolller may wait on hold for a few seconds to many minutes, li~tening to silence, music or adver~i~e~ nt~ until either an agent is available or the 20 customer hangs up in frustration. During the waiting time, network resources are being used and either the customer or the business (in the case of "800" service) is paying for the use of the n~,lwolL resources. Furthermore, if the customer disconnects, the business looses income.
A recently offered service provides an announcement of the approximate 25 waiting time in the queue before an agent becomes available. This service is described in U.S. Patent No. 4,788,715 which issued to D. Lee on November 29, 1988. The Lee Patent also states that the calling party may leave a number for later call back, but does not clearly specify a system for placing such a call back auto.... ......................... ....~ lly.
Thelefole, a problem in the art is that when ACDs have no available agents, new customer calls are placed on hold in a queue, which results in network esoulces being used at the expense of the business provider. A further problem in the art is that the customer spends idle time on hold and may disconnect, causing lost revenue to the bu~iness -Summary of the Invention This problem is solved and a technical advance is achieved in accordance with the principles of the invention in an exemplary method and structural embodiment that completes calls from a caller to one of the plurality of agents to an automatic call 5 distribution system wherein, when no agents are available, the telephone number of the caller is recorded and the call disconnected, and, when an agent becomes available at a subsequent time, a call is made from the ACD to the caller and the ACD connects the caller to the available agent.
A method in accordance with the invention completes a call from a caller to 10 one of a plurality of agents served by an automatic call distribution system, wherein the telephone number of the caller is received by the automatic call distribution system during call set up wherein the ACD determines whether any of the plurality of agents is available. Upon determining that no agent is available, the ACD queues the received telephone number of the caller and disconnects the call. When an agent becomes 15 available, the ACD places a call to said caller using the queued telephone number and connects the caller to the available agent. Advantageously, the ACD, after determining that no agent is available, prompts the caller whether the caller desires to be queued for subsequent call back and the ACD queues the calling telephone number only if the caller agrees to be queued. Further, the ACD may calculate an approximate time before an 20 agent will become available and inform the caller of the approximate delay.
A further embodiment provides a method for completing a call from a caller to one of a plurality of agents served by an automatic call distribution system (ACD) wherein a customer call is received at the ACD, and the ACD determines whether any of the plurality of agents is available. Upon determining that no agent is available, the 25 customer is prompted for a telephone number. The customer provides the telephone number either through a series of DTMF signals which are decoded by a DTMF
decoder, or verbally, which are decoded by a speech recognition system. The telephone number is then recorded and the call is disconnected. The telephone number of the caller is queued and, when an agent becomes available, a call is placed to the caller in 30 the queue telephone number and the call is connected to the agent.
Thus, the invention consists of a method for completing a call from a caller to one of a plurality of agents at an automatic call distribution (ACD) system through a telephone network, said method comprising: receiving said call at said automatic call '~ ~
~, distribution system; receiving the telephone number of the caller by said automatic call distribution system, determining whether any of said plurality of agents is available;
upon determining that no agent is available, and that an expected delay for an available agent exceeds a predetermined threshold, queuing said received telephone number of 5 said caller and disconnecting said call; at a subsequent time, said automatic call distribution system placing a call to said caller using said received telephone number and an in response to receiving an answer, connecting said caller to a next available agent;
and if an agent is not available after said call placed by said automatic distribution system is answered by said caller, queuing said call in a high priority queue for an 10 available agent.
In a further embodiment, a method for completing a call from a calling party from an integrated services digital network (ISDN) telephone station set to one of a plurality of agents served by an ACD system is disclosed.
The method comprises connecting a call from an ISDN telephone to the ACD
15 system wherein the ACD system will receive a telephone number. The ACD systemthen determines whether any of the plurality of agents is available and, upon determining that no agent is available, the ACD determines an expected delay time before an agent may become available. The ACD then sends a disconnect message tothe ISDN telephone, via disconnect message and includes the delay time. Advan-20 tageously, the ISDN telephone displays the expected delay time and prompts the callerfor acceptance of being queued. The ISDN telephone sends a confirmation message back to the ACD, including an indication of whether to queue the received telephone number for said call back or not. If the indication is positive, the telephone number is queued and the call is disconnected. When an agent becomes available, the ACD places 25 a call to said caller using the received telephone number, and connects the caller to the available agent.
Thus, this aspect of the invention consists of a method for completing a call from a calling party at an integrated services digital network (ISDN) telephone station set to one of a plurality of agents at an automatic call distribution (ACD) system 30 through a digital network, said ISDN telephone station set being connected to a termin~ting switch in said digital network, said ISDN telephone having a telephone number, said method comprising: sending a call set up message from said ISDN
telephone through said digital network to said ACD system; receiving said telephone .~
. ~
-3a- 206~574 number in said ACD system; determining whether any of said plurality of agents is available; upon determining that no agent is available, determining an expected delay time before an agent may become available; sending a disconnect message to said ISDN
5 telephone including said delay time; said calling party sending a confirm~tion message through said ISDN telephone back to said automatic call distribution system, including an indication of whether to queue said received telephone number for subsequent callback; if said indication is positive, queuing said received telephone number of said ISDN telephone; and when an agent becomes available, said automatic call distribution 10 system determining whether said ISDN telephone is idle by sending a message to said termin~ting switch, and, responsive to determining that said ISDN telephone is idle, placing a call to said caller using said received telephone number and connecting said caller to said available agent.
An apparatus embodiment is disclosed wherein, in a telephone network, 15 wherein the telephone network comprises one or more local switching systems connected to the network, each of which is connected to a plurality of customer station sets, an automatic call distribution system is also connected to the network and to a plurality of agent stations. The ACD system comprises a processor for receiving telephone calls from a plurality of station sets, the processor determining whether an agent station is 20 available. This embodiment also includes a queue for queuing the received telephone number when no agent is available, and the system for placing a call through thenetwork using the received telephone number when an agent becomes available.
Brief Dc~ ;,olion of the Drawin~
A more complete understanding of the invention may be obtained from a 25 consideration of the following description, in conjunction with the drawings in which FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the principles of this invention in the context of a telephone communication network;
FIGS. 2 through 8 comprise flowcharts for an automatic customer call back for automatic call distributors describing the program control of the preferred 30 embodiment of the invention for use in the telephone network of FIG. l; and FIGS. 9 through 11 are diagrams of the message sequences according to the exemplary method of this invention for use in the telephone network of FIG. 1.
s~, 206q574 Detailed Description FIG. 1 shows a simplified block diagram of a telecommunication system 100, wherein the exemplary method of this invention may be practiced. In this example, a first 5 local telephone switching system 110 is connected to a plurality of telephone station sets, such as telephone station set 115 and ISDN station set 117. Local switching system 110 may be, for example, a distributed control, ISDN switching system such as the system disclosed in U.S.
Patent 4,592,048, issued to M. W. Beckner, et al., on May 27, 1986. Alternatively, switch 110 may be a distributed control, analog or digital switch, such as a 5ESS~ switch as described in the November, 1981, Bell Laboratories Record, page 258, and the December, 1981, Bell Laboratories Record, page 290, and manufactured by AT&T. Exchange 110 is connectable to analog touch-tone telephones such as telephone 115, and to ISDN telephones, such as 117. Exchange 110 is connected to telephone network 120, via trunks, as is well known in the art.
Telecommunications switching network 120 may comprise any combination of local and long distance switches, as known in the art. Also connected to telecommunications switching network 120 is local switching system 130. Local switching system 130 may also be an ISDN on 5ESS~ switch, as described above in connection with local switching system 110, or may be any other type of local switch, such as lAESSTM switch or a crossbar switch.
A plurality of telephone station sets such as touch-tone station set 135 and rotary dial telephone 137 are connected to local switching system 130, as is well known in the art.
Also connected to network 120 is automatic call distribution system (ACD
140). ACD 140 serves a plurality of agent stations 150, 160, 170 and 180. ACDs are well known in the art and are described in U.S. Patent No. 4,048,452 to Oehring, et al. ACD 140 includes processor 142 to control the functionality of ACD 140. Processor 142 operates under the control of program 144. Processor 142 also controls dual-tone, multifrequency (DTMF) decoder 146 and speech recognition system 148, as will be described below.
In the prior art, when a call is received by ACD 140, the call is connected to any available agent station 150 - 180. If all agent stations 150 - 180 are busy, then the call is placed on hold and the call is subsequently routed to the next available agent. In some systems, an average delay time is calculated, as described in D. Lee, U.S. Patent No.
Ba~b~,. o.~..d of the I~ ..ti~..
~ utom~tic call distributors (ACDs) provide b--sinesses with a system for routing incoming customer calls to an available operator or agent. There may be one 10 ACD to handle a limited region for example, concert ticket sales, or there may be a plurality of ACDs connected together, but separated from each other, for handling a large-volume national business, (for example, airline ticket sales). Such systems are known and used in the art and provide b-l~inesses with a greater incoming call h~n~11inp capacity.
There are times, however, when even the large distributed ACD systems become flooded with calls so that incoming calls cannot be h~ntlle~ immçf1i~tely. In these cases, an incoming call is norm~lly placed "on hold" and queued for the next available agent. A ~;u~lolller may wait on hold for a few seconds to many minutes, li~tening to silence, music or adver~i~e~ nt~ until either an agent is available or the 20 customer hangs up in frustration. During the waiting time, network resources are being used and either the customer or the business (in the case of "800" service) is paying for the use of the n~,lwolL resources. Furthermore, if the customer disconnects, the business looses income.
A recently offered service provides an announcement of the approximate 25 waiting time in the queue before an agent becomes available. This service is described in U.S. Patent No. 4,788,715 which issued to D. Lee on November 29, 1988. The Lee Patent also states that the calling party may leave a number for later call back, but does not clearly specify a system for placing such a call back auto.... ......................... ....~ lly.
Thelefole, a problem in the art is that when ACDs have no available agents, new customer calls are placed on hold in a queue, which results in network esoulces being used at the expense of the business provider. A further problem in the art is that the customer spends idle time on hold and may disconnect, causing lost revenue to the bu~iness -Summary of the Invention This problem is solved and a technical advance is achieved in accordance with the principles of the invention in an exemplary method and structural embodiment that completes calls from a caller to one of the plurality of agents to an automatic call 5 distribution system wherein, when no agents are available, the telephone number of the caller is recorded and the call disconnected, and, when an agent becomes available at a subsequent time, a call is made from the ACD to the caller and the ACD connects the caller to the available agent.
A method in accordance with the invention completes a call from a caller to 10 one of a plurality of agents served by an automatic call distribution system, wherein the telephone number of the caller is received by the automatic call distribution system during call set up wherein the ACD determines whether any of the plurality of agents is available. Upon determining that no agent is available, the ACD queues the received telephone number of the caller and disconnects the call. When an agent becomes 15 available, the ACD places a call to said caller using the queued telephone number and connects the caller to the available agent. Advantageously, the ACD, after determining that no agent is available, prompts the caller whether the caller desires to be queued for subsequent call back and the ACD queues the calling telephone number only if the caller agrees to be queued. Further, the ACD may calculate an approximate time before an 20 agent will become available and inform the caller of the approximate delay.
A further embodiment provides a method for completing a call from a caller to one of a plurality of agents served by an automatic call distribution system (ACD) wherein a customer call is received at the ACD, and the ACD determines whether any of the plurality of agents is available. Upon determining that no agent is available, the 25 customer is prompted for a telephone number. The customer provides the telephone number either through a series of DTMF signals which are decoded by a DTMF
decoder, or verbally, which are decoded by a speech recognition system. The telephone number is then recorded and the call is disconnected. The telephone number of the caller is queued and, when an agent becomes available, a call is placed to the caller in 30 the queue telephone number and the call is connected to the agent.
Thus, the invention consists of a method for completing a call from a caller to one of a plurality of agents at an automatic call distribution (ACD) system through a telephone network, said method comprising: receiving said call at said automatic call '~ ~
~, distribution system; receiving the telephone number of the caller by said automatic call distribution system, determining whether any of said plurality of agents is available;
upon determining that no agent is available, and that an expected delay for an available agent exceeds a predetermined threshold, queuing said received telephone number of 5 said caller and disconnecting said call; at a subsequent time, said automatic call distribution system placing a call to said caller using said received telephone number and an in response to receiving an answer, connecting said caller to a next available agent;
and if an agent is not available after said call placed by said automatic distribution system is answered by said caller, queuing said call in a high priority queue for an 10 available agent.
In a further embodiment, a method for completing a call from a calling party from an integrated services digital network (ISDN) telephone station set to one of a plurality of agents served by an ACD system is disclosed.
The method comprises connecting a call from an ISDN telephone to the ACD
15 system wherein the ACD system will receive a telephone number. The ACD systemthen determines whether any of the plurality of agents is available and, upon determining that no agent is available, the ACD determines an expected delay time before an agent may become available. The ACD then sends a disconnect message tothe ISDN telephone, via disconnect message and includes the delay time. Advan-20 tageously, the ISDN telephone displays the expected delay time and prompts the callerfor acceptance of being queued. The ISDN telephone sends a confirmation message back to the ACD, including an indication of whether to queue the received telephone number for said call back or not. If the indication is positive, the telephone number is queued and the call is disconnected. When an agent becomes available, the ACD places 25 a call to said caller using the received telephone number, and connects the caller to the available agent.
Thus, this aspect of the invention consists of a method for completing a call from a calling party at an integrated services digital network (ISDN) telephone station set to one of a plurality of agents at an automatic call distribution (ACD) system 30 through a digital network, said ISDN telephone station set being connected to a termin~ting switch in said digital network, said ISDN telephone having a telephone number, said method comprising: sending a call set up message from said ISDN
telephone through said digital network to said ACD system; receiving said telephone .~
. ~
-3a- 206~574 number in said ACD system; determining whether any of said plurality of agents is available; upon determining that no agent is available, determining an expected delay time before an agent may become available; sending a disconnect message to said ISDN
5 telephone including said delay time; said calling party sending a confirm~tion message through said ISDN telephone back to said automatic call distribution system, including an indication of whether to queue said received telephone number for subsequent callback; if said indication is positive, queuing said received telephone number of said ISDN telephone; and when an agent becomes available, said automatic call distribution 10 system determining whether said ISDN telephone is idle by sending a message to said termin~ting switch, and, responsive to determining that said ISDN telephone is idle, placing a call to said caller using said received telephone number and connecting said caller to said available agent.
An apparatus embodiment is disclosed wherein, in a telephone network, 15 wherein the telephone network comprises one or more local switching systems connected to the network, each of which is connected to a plurality of customer station sets, an automatic call distribution system is also connected to the network and to a plurality of agent stations. The ACD system comprises a processor for receiving telephone calls from a plurality of station sets, the processor determining whether an agent station is 20 available. This embodiment also includes a queue for queuing the received telephone number when no agent is available, and the system for placing a call through thenetwork using the received telephone number when an agent becomes available.
Brief Dc~ ;,olion of the Drawin~
A more complete understanding of the invention may be obtained from a 25 consideration of the following description, in conjunction with the drawings in which FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the principles of this invention in the context of a telephone communication network;
FIGS. 2 through 8 comprise flowcharts for an automatic customer call back for automatic call distributors describing the program control of the preferred 30 embodiment of the invention for use in the telephone network of FIG. l; and FIGS. 9 through 11 are diagrams of the message sequences according to the exemplary method of this invention for use in the telephone network of FIG. 1.
s~, 206q574 Detailed Description FIG. 1 shows a simplified block diagram of a telecommunication system 100, wherein the exemplary method of this invention may be practiced. In this example, a first 5 local telephone switching system 110 is connected to a plurality of telephone station sets, such as telephone station set 115 and ISDN station set 117. Local switching system 110 may be, for example, a distributed control, ISDN switching system such as the system disclosed in U.S.
Patent 4,592,048, issued to M. W. Beckner, et al., on May 27, 1986. Alternatively, switch 110 may be a distributed control, analog or digital switch, such as a 5ESS~ switch as described in the November, 1981, Bell Laboratories Record, page 258, and the December, 1981, Bell Laboratories Record, page 290, and manufactured by AT&T. Exchange 110 is connectable to analog touch-tone telephones such as telephone 115, and to ISDN telephones, such as 117. Exchange 110 is connected to telephone network 120, via trunks, as is well known in the art.
Telecommunications switching network 120 may comprise any combination of local and long distance switches, as known in the art. Also connected to telecommunications switching network 120 is local switching system 130. Local switching system 130 may also be an ISDN on 5ESS~ switch, as described above in connection with local switching system 110, or may be any other type of local switch, such as lAESSTM switch or a crossbar switch.
A plurality of telephone station sets such as touch-tone station set 135 and rotary dial telephone 137 are connected to local switching system 130, as is well known in the art.
Also connected to network 120 is automatic call distribution system (ACD
140). ACD 140 serves a plurality of agent stations 150, 160, 170 and 180. ACDs are well known in the art and are described in U.S. Patent No. 4,048,452 to Oehring, et al. ACD 140 includes processor 142 to control the functionality of ACD 140. Processor 142 operates under the control of program 144. Processor 142 also controls dual-tone, multifrequency (DTMF) decoder 146 and speech recognition system 148, as will be described below.
In the prior art, when a call is received by ACD 140, the call is connected to any available agent station 150 - 180. If all agent stations 150 - 180 are busy, then the call is placed on hold and the call is subsequently routed to the next available agent. In some systems, an average delay time is calculated, as described in D. Lee, U.S. Patent No.
4,788,715. This delay may be communicated to the customer. The customer must then decide r '.
~A
to hang up or wait. Since most ACDs are called using "In-WATS" or 800 numbers, the business using the ACD pays for a call connected to the ACD, whether the call is ultim~tely answered or not. Thus the business using the ACD must pay for the network resources for the entire time the call is in the queue and must pay for calls 5 that disconnect while queued.
This problem is solved by the current invention in a first embodiment wherein, when the delay is above a certain threshold, the calling number is automatically recorded and the calling party is called back when an agent is available. For eY~mple, a calling party desires to book tickets to a concert and thus 10 dials the telephone number of ACD 140 from ISDN telephone station set 117.
A call is est~bli~hed from telephone station set 117 through local switching system 110 and network 120 to ACD 140. If no agent is available, ACD 140 co~ ul~s the average delay time. If the average delay time is above a certain threshold, a de~ ....n~tion is made if the calling line ID (CLI) is available 15 from the network. In an ISDN network, CLI is available. The calling party is plo~ d (via a m~ossage displayed at the ISDN t~rrn;n~l) for whether or not he orshe accepts being put in a queue and called back when an agent is available. If the user of telephone station set 117 accepts, an entry is made in queue 190 containing the CLI, and the call is disconnecte~ When an agent station becomes available, a20 queue entry co~ in;--g a phone number is removed from queue 190 on a first-in, first^out (FiFo) basis, a call is placed using that phone nu~ and the agent station is connected to the call. Thus, nc~wulk resources are economically utilized and ACD 140 is more cost effective to the business using ACD 140.
A call may also come from a non-ISDN telephone station set, such as 25 touch-tone station set 115. In this example, CLI is delivered from local switching system 110 through netwulk 120 to ACD 140, via ANI or similar network feature.
~oceccillg proceeds as above, except that the user of telephone station set 115 is o~ ted by a recorded or synth~si7ed message to in~licate whether he or she accepts being queued for call back. ACD 140 then places a DTMF decoder on the line, 30 de~ ~i,les acc~lance, and takes action as above.
In acco~lce with another exemplary embodiment of this invention, there are situations when a local swilching system may not provide CLI to ACD 140.
For example, if local switching system 130 is a crossbar system, CLI will not beprovided to network 120. In these in~t~nces, after the call is established from touch-35 tone telephone 135 through local switching system 130 and network 122 ACD 140, ACD 140 prl~nll~ts the user of telephone station 135 to enter his or her telephone number. ACD 140 then pr~ pl~ the user of telephone station set 135 whether he orshe wishes to be queued for aulolllalic call back. ACD 140 then determines accep~ce and takes action as above.
In a further exemplary embo lim. nt, if local switching system 130 does S not provide CLI to ACD 140 and the calling party is calling from a dial pulse phone for example, telephone station set 137 then ACD 140 ~rolllpls the user through arecorded or syntheci7el1 message to speak the nl-mbers of the telephone number of telephone 137. ACD 140 attaches a speech recognition system to the line and records the telephone number as it is spoken. ACD 140 then plulllpls the user of10 telephone station set 137 to verbally inrlicate acc~lance. ACD 140 uses the speech recognition system to ~let~rmine accep~ce and takes action as above.
Turning now to FIG. 2, a flow chart describing the functionality of the method according to the preferred embo lim~nt at the aulolllalic call distribution system 140 (E~IG. 1) is described. In box 200, ACD 140 processes an incoming call 15 as is known in the art. As part of normal proces~ing, in decision diamond 202, a decision is made whether an agent is available. If an agent is available, then processing proceeds to box 204 where the incoming call is connected to the available agent, and proces~ing ends in box 206.
If, in decision ~ .ol~l 202, an agent is not available, then processing 20 continues to box 208. In box 208, the average delay time (delay) is calculated. The delay is c~lc~ ted based on the nulllb~l of agents, the average number of phone calls, and the average waiting time. After calculating the delay time in box 208, then in decision fli~mon~l 210, the delay is colllpared to a pre~et~min~ threshold value.
The threshold value is the average delay time beyond which the customer probably25 would not wait on a queue. This time may be empirically determined and adjusted for the individual application. If, in decision diamond 210, the delay is not above the threshold, then in box 212 the call is queued. After being in the queue for a certain amount of time, the call will be connected to an available agent in box 214 and processing ends in box 216.
If the delay is above the predetermined threshold in decision diamond 210, then a letermin~tiQn is made in decision diamond 218 if the calling line ID (CLI) is available. If CLI is available in decision diamond 218, processing proceeds to connector A, FIG. 3. If CLI is not available in decision diamond 218, then processing proceeds to connector B, FIG.4.
~A
to hang up or wait. Since most ACDs are called using "In-WATS" or 800 numbers, the business using the ACD pays for a call connected to the ACD, whether the call is ultim~tely answered or not. Thus the business using the ACD must pay for the network resources for the entire time the call is in the queue and must pay for calls 5 that disconnect while queued.
This problem is solved by the current invention in a first embodiment wherein, when the delay is above a certain threshold, the calling number is automatically recorded and the calling party is called back when an agent is available. For eY~mple, a calling party desires to book tickets to a concert and thus 10 dials the telephone number of ACD 140 from ISDN telephone station set 117.
A call is est~bli~hed from telephone station set 117 through local switching system 110 and network 120 to ACD 140. If no agent is available, ACD 140 co~ ul~s the average delay time. If the average delay time is above a certain threshold, a de~ ....n~tion is made if the calling line ID (CLI) is available 15 from the network. In an ISDN network, CLI is available. The calling party is plo~ d (via a m~ossage displayed at the ISDN t~rrn;n~l) for whether or not he orshe accepts being put in a queue and called back when an agent is available. If the user of telephone station set 117 accepts, an entry is made in queue 190 containing the CLI, and the call is disconnecte~ When an agent station becomes available, a20 queue entry co~ in;--g a phone number is removed from queue 190 on a first-in, first^out (FiFo) basis, a call is placed using that phone nu~ and the agent station is connected to the call. Thus, nc~wulk resources are economically utilized and ACD 140 is more cost effective to the business using ACD 140.
A call may also come from a non-ISDN telephone station set, such as 25 touch-tone station set 115. In this example, CLI is delivered from local switching system 110 through netwulk 120 to ACD 140, via ANI or similar network feature.
~oceccillg proceeds as above, except that the user of telephone station set 115 is o~ ted by a recorded or synth~si7ed message to in~licate whether he or she accepts being queued for call back. ACD 140 then places a DTMF decoder on the line, 30 de~ ~i,les acc~lance, and takes action as above.
In acco~lce with another exemplary embodiment of this invention, there are situations when a local swilching system may not provide CLI to ACD 140.
For example, if local switching system 130 is a crossbar system, CLI will not beprovided to network 120. In these in~t~nces, after the call is established from touch-35 tone telephone 135 through local switching system 130 and network 122 ACD 140, ACD 140 prl~nll~ts the user of telephone station 135 to enter his or her telephone number. ACD 140 then pr~ pl~ the user of telephone station set 135 whether he orshe wishes to be queued for aulolllalic call back. ACD 140 then determines accep~ce and takes action as above.
In a further exemplary embo lim. nt, if local switching system 130 does S not provide CLI to ACD 140 and the calling party is calling from a dial pulse phone for example, telephone station set 137 then ACD 140 ~rolllpls the user through arecorded or syntheci7el1 message to speak the nl-mbers of the telephone number of telephone 137. ACD 140 attaches a speech recognition system to the line and records the telephone number as it is spoken. ACD 140 then plulllpls the user of10 telephone station set 137 to verbally inrlicate acc~lance. ACD 140 uses the speech recognition system to ~let~rmine accep~ce and takes action as above.
Turning now to FIG. 2, a flow chart describing the functionality of the method according to the preferred embo lim~nt at the aulolllalic call distribution system 140 (E~IG. 1) is described. In box 200, ACD 140 processes an incoming call 15 as is known in the art. As part of normal proces~ing, in decision diamond 202, a decision is made whether an agent is available. If an agent is available, then processing proceeds to box 204 where the incoming call is connected to the available agent, and proces~ing ends in box 206.
If, in decision ~ .ol~l 202, an agent is not available, then processing 20 continues to box 208. In box 208, the average delay time (delay) is calculated. The delay is c~lc~ ted based on the nulllb~l of agents, the average number of phone calls, and the average waiting time. After calculating the delay time in box 208, then in decision fli~mon~l 210, the delay is colllpared to a pre~et~min~ threshold value.
The threshold value is the average delay time beyond which the customer probably25 would not wait on a queue. This time may be empirically determined and adjusted for the individual application. If, in decision diamond 210, the delay is not above the threshold, then in box 212 the call is queued. After being in the queue for a certain amount of time, the call will be connected to an available agent in box 214 and processing ends in box 216.
If the delay is above the predetermined threshold in decision diamond 210, then a letermin~tiQn is made in decision diamond 218 if the calling line ID (CLI) is available. If CLI is available in decision diamond 218, processing proceeds to connector A, FIG. 3. If CLI is not available in decision diamond 218, then processing proceeds to connector B, FIG.4.
Turning now to FIG. 3, a continn~tion of the flow chart describing the funcdonality of the exemplary method is shown. Condnuing from connector A, a determin~tion is made in decision ~ mon~l 220 whether the calling party is calling from an ISDN telephone stadon set. As reflected in the CCS message delivered to 5 ACD 140. If the calling telephone is an ISDN telephone stadon set, then processing proceeds to box 228 where a release mess~ge (as known in the art) is sent through the network to the local switching system and delivered to the ISDN telephone station set, including the delay tdme as a pal~llet~. Processing proceeds to oval 230 where the ACD waits for the release complete message which includes an 10 acceptance in~ tion (AI) reflecdng whether the cu~loll~l accepts being queued for call back. The call remains in the wait state of oval 230 until one of the events described in FIG. 7.
If in decision diamond 220 the calling party is not using an ISDN
telephone stadon set, a detçrmin~ion is made in decision diamond 222 whether the15 network connecdon has end-to-end ISUP. If the n~wc,lk connecdon is not end-to-end ISUP then processing continlles to conn~tor B (FIG. 4). If there is end-to-end ISUP, then in box 224 an info....~tion request-inf~.mAI;on (INR-INF) procedure, as is known in the art, is initi~te~ In this procedure, the local switching system for the calling party is queried for the phone number of the calling party. Processing then - 20 continues to decision rli~m~ nd 226 to det~rmine whether the ACD now has the telephone number of the calling party. If the ACD does not have the telephone number of the calling party, then proces~ing condnues to connector B, FIG. 4. If the ACD does have the telephone nulnbc~ of the calling party then processing continues to connector D, FIG. 5.
Turning now to FIG. 4, control of the ACD is shown when the calling line number is not delivered to the ACD by the network. In box 232, the user is plulllpled with an announce ~-e -l to ~lete~mine whether the user has a touch-tone telephone. In decision diamond 234, a determination is made if the user has a touch-tone telephone. If the user does not have a touch-tone telephone, control 30 passes to box 236 where a voice recognidon system is attached to the incoming line.
If the user does have the touch-tone telephone, then a dual tone, multi-frequency (DTMF) decoder is attached to the line in box 238. Control passes to box 240, where the user is pl~ml)led for his or her phone number and the calling line number is received either as a string of DTMF signals or, alternatively as spoken numbers, as 35 is known in the art. Transladon takes place in either the DTMF decoder or the voice recognition system, and the calling line number is stored in a queue. Control then -passes to box 242 where the delay is provided to the user by way of a synthesized speech anno-mcem~nt Control then passes through connector D, FIG. 5.
Turning now to FIG. 5, control of ACD 140 is shown for acceptance of auto call back and connection of the call. In box 243, the user is p~olllpted for 5 acceptance. A synthesized speech prompt asks the user to key in the number or :~ltern~tively speak a CO..r, .,.~lion that the user wishes to be called back. In decision diamond 244 a ~let~rmin~tion is again made if the user has a touch-tone telephone. If the user does not have a touch-tone telephone, then control passes to 246, and avoice recognition system is ~tt~çhçd to the line. If the user has a touch-tone 10 telephone, a DTMF decoder is attached to the line in box 247. Control passes to decision diamond 248 where a dett rmin~tion is made if the user accepts being queued for call back. If the user does not accept being queued for call back, control passes to box 250, where the call is terrnin~tçd, as is known in the art, and the call ends in box 252.
If the user accepts being queued, then control passes to box 254 where an auto call back ticket is created and placed in queue 190. In box 256 the call is disconnected. In oval 800, the ticket is in the state of waiting in the queue. This state continues until one of two events occurs, as will be described below in connection with FIG. 8.
Turning now to FIG. 6, control at the origin~ting local switching system is shown in connection with an ISDN telephone station set. Control passes to box 262 where the release mçss~ge is processed at the local switching system. The delay time is passed to the local switching system from the ACD as a parameter to the release mess~ge. In box 268, a delay time message is sent to the display of the 25 ISDN telephone station set along with a prompt for acc~lance of being queued for call back. The user of the ISDN set presses a preselected button on the ISDN
telephone station set, or dials a pre;,~cirled digit, in~lirating acceptance or not. If the user indic~tçs non-acce~ ce, as determined in decision diamond 270, then controlpasses to box 272 where the release ~ olllplcte m~ss~ge is form~tted and the 30 acceptance intlic~tQr (Ar) is set to zero, intlicating non-acceptance. If in decision diamond 270 the user in-lic~toA acceptance, then in box 274 the release completemessage is sent back to the ACD node for the local switching system with the acceptance AI intli~tor set to one. The call is then termin~ted in a normal fashion at the origin~ting node in box 276, and ends at box 278.
g FIG. 7 shows the flow of control at the ACD node upon receipt or time out of the release complete message. In oval 700 the ACD node is in a state waiting for the release complete message. There are two possible events which change state.
In box 702, the ACD node timed out waiting for the release complete message. In S the case of a time out, the call is terminAtç~ without creating a queue ticket for automatic call back in box 704, and the call ends in box 705.
Receipt of the release complete mess~ge causes a transfer from the wait state 700. In box 706, a release complete message is received, and processing continues to decision diamond 708 where the AI field in the release complete 10 message is chec~ for acceplance. If the AI field inrlir~tes acceptance, then a ticket is created in box 710 and the call is placed in a queue for an available agent. Control co~tinlles to box 712 where normal call termination processing is performed, as is known in the art. Control then passes to oval 800 where the call transitions into the state of waiting for an an available agent.
Turning now to FIG. 8, processing continues from the wait for an available agent state 800. There are two transitions from the state of waiting for an available agent. First is a time out, as in box 802. If a call in the queue has been in the queue for longer than a predete ...i.-ed time, then the queue entry is cleared in box 804 and that call ends in box 806.
When an agent becomes available, proces~ing continues to decision diamond 810, where the status of the user line is ~leterminç~l, as is known in the art.
If a user line is idle, control passes to box 812 where a call is placed to the number previously queued and the call is plesellted to the agents simllltAneously. In decision diamond 814, a ~3et~ inAtion is made if the call is answered by waiting for answer 25 supervision to return from the far end local ~wi~ching system. If answer supervision is received, ~lvcessing continues to box 816 where the call is connected normally and IlltimAtely the call is ended at box 817.
.Altçrn~tively, ACD 140 may not wait until an agent becomes available before calling back the caller. In this manner, further agent time savings may be 30 realized, by not forcing an agent to be available while the caller is being alerted (rung). The caller is called back at a subsequent time when the ACD may be less heavily loaded. According to one imple...~ tion, the delay dme calculated previously is used to ~p~ ale the delay time before the caller is called back, optionally subject to a ~ ...-- delay interval. Once the appropliate interval of 35 time has lapsed for a pardcular entry in the queue, a call is placed to the calling party. If the calling party answers (i.e., answer supervision is received from the 2069~74 ._ linej, a determination is made if an agent is available. If an agent is available, the call is immç~i~tely connected to the available agent. If an agent is not available, the call may be queued briefly, an anno~ ce~ nl may advantageously be played to the calling party stating that an agent will be available shortly, and then the call5 connected to the next available agent. A system similar to this for use in theoperator services area is fully disclosed in U. S. Patent 4,899,375, which issued to T. M. Bauer, et al. on February 6, 1990 and ~$signe~1 to the assignee of the present invention. This patent is incol~,o~ated herein by reference.
Returning now to FIG. 8, if in decision diamond 814 the call is not 10 answered or ~ltPrn~tively if in decision diamond 810 the line was determine~ not to be idle, control passes to decision diamond 818 where a determination is made if this were the second attempt to connect to this particular telephone number. If it were not the second attempt, to then control passes to box 820 where the ticket is requeued and control then passes to the waiting for an available agent state 800. If in 15 decision ~ moncl 818 a determination is made that it was the second try, thencontrol passes to box 822 where the ticket is cleared from the queue and in box 824 the call is ended.
Turning now to FIG. 9, the mess~ge flow for an end-to-end digital network is shown. First the ISDN cu~lu~r premise e4uipllle"t (CPE) sends a setup20 mess~ge to the oripin~ting local swi~ching system (OEX). The originating local switching system sends an IM m~ss~ge through the transit network and the transitnetwork fc,l w~ds the IAM m~ ge to the ACD node. The ACD node, after dele ...iiling that no agents are available and after calculating the delay time, sends a release message with the delay time as a p~ll~,tel through the transit network, 25 which fol wa~ds the release message and the delay time to the originating local ~wilching system. The origin~ting local ~wilching system sends a disconnect meSS~ge to the ISDN customer premise e4ui~ ellt with the delay time in the message. The ISDN customer premise e4uip,lRnl sends a disconnect message back to the origin~ting local switching system with an acceptance indicator (either yes or 30 no). The origin~ting local ~wilchillg system sends a release complete message back through the transit network with the acceptance in~ tor as a ~ e~ which forwards the release complete message to the ACD node.
FIG. 10 shows an ISDN case when CLI has not been delivered to the destination ACD exchange. The ISDN cu~lolller premise e4uipl~ t sends a setup 35 message to the origin~ting local switching system which then forwards an IAM
message through the transit network to the ACD node. The ACD node then sends an information request (INR) message back through the transit network which then forwards the information request mç~s~ge to the origin~ting local switching system.
The origin~ting local switching system formats and sends an information message (INF) including the telephone number of the ISDN customer through the transit 5 network to the ACD node. The ACD node then sends a release message with the delay time through the transit network to the ori~in~ting local switching system. The origin~ting local switching system sends the disconnect message with the delay time to the ISDN customer premise e luipn~llt. The ISDN customer premise equipment then sends a disconnect confirm~tion m~ss~ge with the acceptance indicator (AI) to 10 the origin~ting local switching system. The originating local switching system then formats and sends a release complete message with the acceptance indicator (AI) as a parameter through the transit neLw(,lk to the ACD node.
Turning now to FIG. 11, a m~oss~ge scen~rio is shown when the customer premise e luipll~ent is not ISDN and ANI is not delivered through the 15 network. In this case, the customer goes off-hook which appears at the originating local switching system and the origin~ting local ~witchillg system sets up a call through the transfer nelwulk to the ACD node. The l~ri in~ting local ~wi~ching system sends an IM m~ss~ge through the transit network to the ACD. The ACD
node, upon receipt of the call setup, sends an inrc,lm~lion request (INR) back 20 through the transit network to the origin~ting local switching system. The originating local ~wi~ching system sends an i~ ,ation message (INF), including the telephone num~ of the non-ISDN cuslo~ premise equipment, back through the transit nelwoll- to the ACD node. The origin~ting local ~wilchhlg system ~imlllt~neously sends a disconnect to the non-ISDN phone and the user goes on-25 hook, which appears at the origin~ting local ~wilching system.
It is to be understood that the above-described embodiments are merely illustrative principles of the invention and that many variations may be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. It is therefore in~çn~ that such variations be included within the scope of the claims.
If in decision diamond 220 the calling party is not using an ISDN
telephone stadon set, a detçrmin~ion is made in decision diamond 222 whether the15 network connecdon has end-to-end ISUP. If the n~wc,lk connecdon is not end-to-end ISUP then processing continlles to conn~tor B (FIG. 4). If there is end-to-end ISUP, then in box 224 an info....~tion request-inf~.mAI;on (INR-INF) procedure, as is known in the art, is initi~te~ In this procedure, the local switching system for the calling party is queried for the phone number of the calling party. Processing then - 20 continues to decision rli~m~ nd 226 to det~rmine whether the ACD now has the telephone number of the calling party. If the ACD does not have the telephone number of the calling party, then proces~ing condnues to connector B, FIG. 4. If the ACD does have the telephone nulnbc~ of the calling party then processing continues to connector D, FIG. 5.
Turning now to FIG. 4, control of the ACD is shown when the calling line number is not delivered to the ACD by the network. In box 232, the user is plulllpled with an announce ~-e -l to ~lete~mine whether the user has a touch-tone telephone. In decision diamond 234, a determination is made if the user has a touch-tone telephone. If the user does not have a touch-tone telephone, control 30 passes to box 236 where a voice recognidon system is attached to the incoming line.
If the user does have the touch-tone telephone, then a dual tone, multi-frequency (DTMF) decoder is attached to the line in box 238. Control passes to box 240, where the user is pl~ml)led for his or her phone number and the calling line number is received either as a string of DTMF signals or, alternatively as spoken numbers, as 35 is known in the art. Transladon takes place in either the DTMF decoder or the voice recognition system, and the calling line number is stored in a queue. Control then -passes to box 242 where the delay is provided to the user by way of a synthesized speech anno-mcem~nt Control then passes through connector D, FIG. 5.
Turning now to FIG. 5, control of ACD 140 is shown for acceptance of auto call back and connection of the call. In box 243, the user is p~olllpted for 5 acceptance. A synthesized speech prompt asks the user to key in the number or :~ltern~tively speak a CO..r, .,.~lion that the user wishes to be called back. In decision diamond 244 a ~let~rmin~tion is again made if the user has a touch-tone telephone. If the user does not have a touch-tone telephone, then control passes to 246, and avoice recognition system is ~tt~çhçd to the line. If the user has a touch-tone 10 telephone, a DTMF decoder is attached to the line in box 247. Control passes to decision diamond 248 where a dett rmin~tion is made if the user accepts being queued for call back. If the user does not accept being queued for call back, control passes to box 250, where the call is terrnin~tçd, as is known in the art, and the call ends in box 252.
If the user accepts being queued, then control passes to box 254 where an auto call back ticket is created and placed in queue 190. In box 256 the call is disconnected. In oval 800, the ticket is in the state of waiting in the queue. This state continues until one of two events occurs, as will be described below in connection with FIG. 8.
Turning now to FIG. 6, control at the origin~ting local switching system is shown in connection with an ISDN telephone station set. Control passes to box 262 where the release mçss~ge is processed at the local switching system. The delay time is passed to the local switching system from the ACD as a parameter to the release mess~ge. In box 268, a delay time message is sent to the display of the 25 ISDN telephone station set along with a prompt for acc~lance of being queued for call back. The user of the ISDN set presses a preselected button on the ISDN
telephone station set, or dials a pre;,~cirled digit, in~lirating acceptance or not. If the user indic~tçs non-acce~ ce, as determined in decision diamond 270, then controlpasses to box 272 where the release ~ olllplcte m~ss~ge is form~tted and the 30 acceptance intlic~tQr (Ar) is set to zero, intlicating non-acceptance. If in decision diamond 270 the user in-lic~toA acceptance, then in box 274 the release completemessage is sent back to the ACD node for the local switching system with the acceptance AI intli~tor set to one. The call is then termin~ted in a normal fashion at the origin~ting node in box 276, and ends at box 278.
g FIG. 7 shows the flow of control at the ACD node upon receipt or time out of the release complete message. In oval 700 the ACD node is in a state waiting for the release complete message. There are two possible events which change state.
In box 702, the ACD node timed out waiting for the release complete message. In S the case of a time out, the call is terminAtç~ without creating a queue ticket for automatic call back in box 704, and the call ends in box 705.
Receipt of the release complete mess~ge causes a transfer from the wait state 700. In box 706, a release complete message is received, and processing continues to decision diamond 708 where the AI field in the release complete 10 message is chec~ for acceplance. If the AI field inrlir~tes acceptance, then a ticket is created in box 710 and the call is placed in a queue for an available agent. Control co~tinlles to box 712 where normal call termination processing is performed, as is known in the art. Control then passes to oval 800 where the call transitions into the state of waiting for an an available agent.
Turning now to FIG. 8, processing continues from the wait for an available agent state 800. There are two transitions from the state of waiting for an available agent. First is a time out, as in box 802. If a call in the queue has been in the queue for longer than a predete ...i.-ed time, then the queue entry is cleared in box 804 and that call ends in box 806.
When an agent becomes available, proces~ing continues to decision diamond 810, where the status of the user line is ~leterminç~l, as is known in the art.
If a user line is idle, control passes to box 812 where a call is placed to the number previously queued and the call is plesellted to the agents simllltAneously. In decision diamond 814, a ~3et~ inAtion is made if the call is answered by waiting for answer 25 supervision to return from the far end local ~wi~ching system. If answer supervision is received, ~lvcessing continues to box 816 where the call is connected normally and IlltimAtely the call is ended at box 817.
.Altçrn~tively, ACD 140 may not wait until an agent becomes available before calling back the caller. In this manner, further agent time savings may be 30 realized, by not forcing an agent to be available while the caller is being alerted (rung). The caller is called back at a subsequent time when the ACD may be less heavily loaded. According to one imple...~ tion, the delay dme calculated previously is used to ~p~ ale the delay time before the caller is called back, optionally subject to a ~ ...-- delay interval. Once the appropliate interval of 35 time has lapsed for a pardcular entry in the queue, a call is placed to the calling party. If the calling party answers (i.e., answer supervision is received from the 2069~74 ._ linej, a determination is made if an agent is available. If an agent is available, the call is immç~i~tely connected to the available agent. If an agent is not available, the call may be queued briefly, an anno~ ce~ nl may advantageously be played to the calling party stating that an agent will be available shortly, and then the call5 connected to the next available agent. A system similar to this for use in theoperator services area is fully disclosed in U. S. Patent 4,899,375, which issued to T. M. Bauer, et al. on February 6, 1990 and ~$signe~1 to the assignee of the present invention. This patent is incol~,o~ated herein by reference.
Returning now to FIG. 8, if in decision diamond 814 the call is not 10 answered or ~ltPrn~tively if in decision diamond 810 the line was determine~ not to be idle, control passes to decision diamond 818 where a determination is made if this were the second attempt to connect to this particular telephone number. If it were not the second attempt, to then control passes to box 820 where the ticket is requeued and control then passes to the waiting for an available agent state 800. If in 15 decision ~ moncl 818 a determination is made that it was the second try, thencontrol passes to box 822 where the ticket is cleared from the queue and in box 824 the call is ended.
Turning now to FIG. 9, the mess~ge flow for an end-to-end digital network is shown. First the ISDN cu~lu~r premise e4uipllle"t (CPE) sends a setup20 mess~ge to the oripin~ting local swi~ching system (OEX). The originating local switching system sends an IM m~ss~ge through the transit network and the transitnetwork fc,l w~ds the IAM m~ ge to the ACD node. The ACD node, after dele ...iiling that no agents are available and after calculating the delay time, sends a release message with the delay time as a p~ll~,tel through the transit network, 25 which fol wa~ds the release message and the delay time to the originating local ~wilching system. The origin~ting local ~wilching system sends a disconnect meSS~ge to the ISDN customer premise e4ui~ ellt with the delay time in the message. The ISDN customer premise e4uip,lRnl sends a disconnect message back to the origin~ting local switching system with an acceptance indicator (either yes or 30 no). The origin~ting local ~wilchillg system sends a release complete message back through the transit network with the acceptance in~ tor as a ~ e~ which forwards the release complete message to the ACD node.
FIG. 10 shows an ISDN case when CLI has not been delivered to the destination ACD exchange. The ISDN cu~lolller premise e4uipl~ t sends a setup 35 message to the origin~ting local switching system which then forwards an IAM
message through the transit network to the ACD node. The ACD node then sends an information request (INR) message back through the transit network which then forwards the information request mç~s~ge to the origin~ting local switching system.
The origin~ting local switching system formats and sends an information message (INF) including the telephone number of the ISDN customer through the transit 5 network to the ACD node. The ACD node then sends a release message with the delay time through the transit network to the ori~in~ting local switching system. The origin~ting local switching system sends the disconnect message with the delay time to the ISDN customer premise e luipn~llt. The ISDN customer premise equipment then sends a disconnect confirm~tion m~ss~ge with the acceptance indicator (AI) to 10 the origin~ting local switching system. The originating local switching system then formats and sends a release complete message with the acceptance indicator (AI) as a parameter through the transit neLw(,lk to the ACD node.
Turning now to FIG. 11, a m~oss~ge scen~rio is shown when the customer premise e luipll~ent is not ISDN and ANI is not delivered through the 15 network. In this case, the customer goes off-hook which appears at the originating local switching system and the origin~ting local ~witchillg system sets up a call through the transfer nelwulk to the ACD node. The l~ri in~ting local ~wi~ching system sends an IM m~ss~ge through the transit network to the ACD. The ACD
node, upon receipt of the call setup, sends an inrc,lm~lion request (INR) back 20 through the transit network to the origin~ting local switching system. The originating local ~wi~ching system sends an i~ ,ation message (INF), including the telephone num~ of the non-ISDN cuslo~ premise equipment, back through the transit nelwoll- to the ACD node. The origin~ting local ~wilchhlg system ~imlllt~neously sends a disconnect to the non-ISDN phone and the user goes on-25 hook, which appears at the origin~ting local ~wilching system.
It is to be understood that the above-described embodiments are merely illustrative principles of the invention and that many variations may be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. It is therefore in~çn~ that such variations be included within the scope of the claims.
Claims (5)
1. A method for completing a call from a calling party at an integrated services digital network (ISDN) telephone station set to one of a plurality of agents at an automatic call distribution (ACD) system through a digital network, said ISDNtelephone station set being connected to a terminating switch in said digital network, said ISDN telephone having a telephone number, said method comprising:
sending a call set up message from said ISDN telephone through said digital network to said ACD system;
receiving said telephone number in said ACD system;
determining whether any of said plurality of agents is available;
upon determining that no agent is available, determining an expected delay time before an agent may become available;
sending a disconnect message to said ISDN telephone including said delay time;
said calling party sending a confirmation message through said ISDN
telephone back to said automatic call distribution system, including an indication of whether to queue said received telephone number for subsequent callback;
if said indication is positive, queuing said received telephone number of said ISDN telephone; and when an agent becomes available, said automatic call distribution system determining whether said ISDN telephone is idle by sending a message to said terminating switch, and, responsive to determining that said ISDN telephone is idle, placing a call to said caller using said received telephone number and connecting said caller to said available agent.
sending a call set up message from said ISDN telephone through said digital network to said ACD system;
receiving said telephone number in said ACD system;
determining whether any of said plurality of agents is available;
upon determining that no agent is available, determining an expected delay time before an agent may become available;
sending a disconnect message to said ISDN telephone including said delay time;
said calling party sending a confirmation message through said ISDN
telephone back to said automatic call distribution system, including an indication of whether to queue said received telephone number for subsequent callback;
if said indication is positive, queuing said received telephone number of said ISDN telephone; and when an agent becomes available, said automatic call distribution system determining whether said ISDN telephone is idle by sending a message to said terminating switch, and, responsive to determining that said ISDN telephone is idle, placing a call to said caller using said received telephone number and connecting said caller to said available agent.
2. A method according to claim 1 wherein said ISDN telephone is connected to a local switching system and said step of receiving said telephone number comprises said automatic call distribution system requesting said number from said local switching system and said local switching system delivering said number.
3. A method according to claim 1 wherein said disconnect message is sent if said determined delay time exceeds a predetermined threshold.
4. A method for completing a call from a caller to one of a plurality of agents at an automatic call distribution (ACD) system through a telephone network, said method comprising:
receiving said call at said automatic call distribution system;
receiving the telephone number of the caller by said automatic call distribution system;
determining whether any of said plurality of agents is available;
upon determining that no agent is available, and that an expected delay for an available agent exceeds a predetermined threshold, queuing said received telephone number of said caller and disconnecting said call;
at a subsequent time, said automatic call distribution system placing a call to said caller using said received telephone number and in response to receiving ananswer, connecting said caller to a next available agent; and if an agent is not available after said call placed by said automatic distribution system is answered by said caller, queuing said call in a high priority queue for an available agent.
receiving said call at said automatic call distribution system;
receiving the telephone number of the caller by said automatic call distribution system;
determining whether any of said plurality of agents is available;
upon determining that no agent is available, and that an expected delay for an available agent exceeds a predetermined threshold, queuing said received telephone number of said caller and disconnecting said call;
at a subsequent time, said automatic call distribution system placing a call to said caller using said received telephone number and in response to receiving ananswer, connecting said caller to a next available agent; and if an agent is not available after said call placed by said automatic distribution system is answered by said caller, queuing said call in a high priority queue for an available agent.
5. A method in accordance with claim 4 further comprising:
after queuing said call in said high priority queue, providing a message that said call is queued.
after queuing said call in said high priority queue, providing a message that said call is queued.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US780,605 | 1991-10-23 | ||
| US07/780,605 US5311574A (en) | 1991-10-23 | 1991-10-23 | Automatic customer call back for automatic call distribution systems |
Publications (2)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA2069574A1 CA2069574A1 (en) | 1993-04-24 |
| CA2069574C true CA2069574C (en) | 1996-02-20 |
Family
ID=25120076
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| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA002069574A Expired - Fee Related CA2069574C (en) | 1991-10-23 | 1992-05-26 | Automatic customer call back for automatic call distribution systems |
Country Status (6)
| Country | Link |
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| US (1) | US5311574A (en) |
| EP (1) | EP0539105B1 (en) |
| JP (1) | JP2686029B2 (en) |
| CA (1) | CA2069574C (en) |
| DE (1) | DE69227973T2 (en) |
| MX (1) | MX9205998A (en) |
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| US5036535A (en) * | 1989-11-27 | 1991-07-30 | Unifi Communications Corporation | Switchless automatic call distribution system |
| US5155761A (en) * | 1990-01-26 | 1992-10-13 | Intervoice, Inc. | Automatic call back system and method of operation |
| US5070525A (en) * | 1990-02-12 | 1991-12-03 | Inventions, Inc. | Method for avoiding call blocking |
| JPH049646A (en) * | 1990-04-27 | 1992-01-14 | Hitachi Ltd | Instrument for measuring light |
| US5181236A (en) * | 1990-09-25 | 1993-01-19 | Rockwell International Corporation | Automatic call returning method for call distributor with message record capability |
| US5185782A (en) * | 1991-02-08 | 1993-02-09 | A&T Bell Laboratories | ACD arrangement for automatically returning a call at a time specified by the original caller |
-
1991
- 1991-10-23 US US07/780,605 patent/US5311574A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
-
1992
- 1992-05-26 CA CA002069574A patent/CA2069574C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 1992-10-09 JP JP4296670A patent/JP2686029B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 1992-10-16 EP EP92309444A patent/EP0539105B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1992-10-16 DE DE69227973T patent/DE69227973T2/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1992-10-19 MX MX9205998A patent/MX9205998A/en not_active IP Right Cessation
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| EP0539105A2 (en) | 1993-04-28 |
| DE69227973T2 (en) | 1999-07-08 |
| EP0539105A3 (en) | 1994-03-16 |
| EP0539105B1 (en) | 1998-12-23 |
| DE69227973D1 (en) | 1999-02-04 |
| JPH077555A (en) | 1995-01-10 |
| JP2686029B2 (en) | 1997-12-08 |
| MX9205998A (en) | 1993-05-01 |
| CA2069574A1 (en) | 1993-04-24 |
| US5311574A (en) | 1994-05-10 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| EEER | Examination request | ||
| MKLA | Lapsed |