Call sharing for inbound and outbound call center agents
June 7, 2014. Estimated Expiration Date is calculated based on simple USPTO term provisions. It does not account for terminal disclaimers, term adjustments, failure to pay maintenance fees, or other factors which might affect the term of a patent.Patent ReferencesMethod for predictive pacing of calls in a calling system Automatic call returning method for call distributor with message record capability ACD arrangement for automatically returning a call at a time specified by the original caller Method and apparatus for dynamic and interdependent processing of inbound calls and outbound calls System and method for controlling outbound and inbound calls in a telephone communication system Dynamically adjustable call pacing system Automatic customer call back for automatic call distribution systems System and method for controlling call placement rate for telephone communication systems System for integrating a stand alone inbound automatic call distributor and a outbound automatic call dialer Patent #: 5425093 InventorsAssigneeApplicationNo. 255155 filed on 06/07/1994US Classes:379/265.05, Agent assignment (e.g., allocation of agent's time to a specific task)379/210.01, Reserved call (e.g., return call, call back, scheduled call, reestablished call)379/266.01, Call or agent queuing379/266.07, Call campaign (e.g., script, application, inbound/outbound balancing)379/309Call distribution or queuingExaminersPrimary: Hofsass, JefferyAssistant: Dharia, Parag International ClassH04M 003/46AbstractMethod for multiplexing inbound and outbound calls from a call center to improve the efficiency of call center agents since an idle agent can sometimes place an outbound call rather than wait for another inbound call. A parameter k is used to have an ACD agent place an outbound call instead of waiting to receive an inbound call. Specifically, if more than k agents in an inbound/outbound ACD call group are idle, and no calls are in the inbound call queue, then, in accordance with the present invention, callback or outbound calls are assigned to idle ACD agents until k agents are idle. For example, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, callback calls will be assigned to an ACD agent before outbound calls. Note that, in accordance with the present invention, at any instant, at most k agents will be idle, because as soon as k+1 agents are idle, an agent will be assigned to a callback or to an outbound call. | |
