Patents Examined by George H Walker
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Patent number: 8117064Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for an optimizing operations at a contact center. In one embodiment, an integrated contact center comprises: a content recorder configured to record content of plurality of agent interactions; an analytics component configured to perform speech analysis on at least a portion of the agent interactions, and further configured to evaluate the interactions based on a plurality of criteria, producing a score; and a quality monitor configured to associate the analyzed interactions with interaction metadata.Type: GrantFiled: February 22, 2006Date of Patent: February 14, 2012Assignee: Verint Americas, Inc.Inventors: John Bourne, Ed Murray, Jeff Iannone, Shimon Keren, Nick McLean, Mike Bourke, Jason Fama, Joseph Watson, James Gordon Nies, Thomas Lyerly
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Patent number: 8112306Abstract: The systems and methods described herein provide a notification engine that facilitates integration of solutions for performing workforce management, quality monitoring, e-learning, performance management, and analytics functionality. The notification engine facilitates combining quality monitoring/call recording with performance management and e-learning functionality as a unified integrated solution. The combination can be delivered through a single platform and enables users to gain more insight and make smarter decisions faster about sales, service, and overall operations. This takes customer center tools beyond the traditional “suite” approach to a true single workforce optimization platform.Type: GrantFiled: June 30, 2006Date of Patent: February 7, 2012Assignee: Verint Americas, Inc.Inventors: Thomas Lyerly, Nick McLean, Shimon Keren
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Patent number: 8112296Abstract: A job profile class is defined that represents a job profile and identifies relationships of the job profile with various entities related to the job profile.Type: GrantFiled: May 21, 2004Date of Patent: February 7, 2012Assignee: Siebel Systems, Inc.Inventors: Caroline Muralitharan, Maria Theresa Barnes Leon, Darayush H. Mistry, Marcelo Andres Vasquez Rico
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Patent number: 8112298Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for an integrated process for optimizing operations at a contact center. In one embodiment, the method comprises: defining contact center business goals; planning at least one campaign to implement the goals; scheduling and deploying a workforce in accordance with the campaign to produce agent-customer interactions; measuring agent performance on the interactions to produce quality metrics; analyzing the metrics to produce a rating; combining quality metrics to produce performance indicators; and using the performance indicators in the planning step of a second campaign or another iteration of the first campaign.Type: GrantFiled: February 22, 2006Date of Patent: February 7, 2012Assignee: Verint Americas, Inc.Inventors: John Bourne, Ed Murray, Jeff Iannone, Shimon Keren, Nick McLean, Mike Bourke, Jason Fama, Joseph Watson, James Gordon Nies, Thomas Lyerly
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Patent number: 8108237Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for an optimizing operations at a contact center. In one embodiment, an integrated contact center comprises: a workforce manager comprising a scheduler and a tracking function; and a lesson assignment function configured to receive at least one indicator of performance of the agent, and further configured to assign a lesson to the agent based on the at least one indicator.Type: GrantFiled: February 22, 2006Date of Patent: January 31, 2012Assignee: Verint Americas, Inc.Inventors: John Bourne, Ed Murray, Jeff Iannone, Shimon Keren, Nick McLean, Mike Bourke, Jason Fama, Joseph Watson, James Gordon Nies, Thomas Lyerly
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Patent number: 8090607Abstract: An explanation device operates to generate explanatory information for a user regarding the cause of any demands that could not be satisfied by an automated supply chain optimizer. The explanation device identifies the cause for any unsatisfied demands by successfully relaxing various supply chain constraints while controlling the supply chain optimizer to re-optimize the supply chain subject to the relaxed constraints. If a previously unsatisfied demand is satisfied during re-optimization by relaxing a given constraint, then that constraint is deemed to have been a factor in the original, unsatisfied demand. If so, explanatory information is output to the user regarding the constraint. The amount by which the constraint was originally violated during the initial optimization may also be determined and provided to the user as further explanatory information.Type: GrantFiled: November 27, 2006Date of Patent: January 3, 2012Assignee: SAP AktiengeselleschaftInventors: Thomas Kasper, Mathias Goebelt
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Patent number: 8078486Abstract: Systems and methods for providing workforce optimization are provided. A representative method includes: planning a first campaign to implement business goals; scheduling and deploying a workforce in accordance with the campaign to produce a plurality of interactions, at least one of the interactions involving a customer and a first agent of a contact center, at least another of the interactions involving a customer and a second agent of a branch office or back office; measuring performance of the first agent and the second agent on at least a portion of the interactions to produce a set of quality metrics for the agents; combining at least a portion of quality metrics to produce performance indicators; and using the performance indicators in the planning step of a second campaign or another iteration of the first campaign.Type: GrantFiled: July 10, 2008Date of Patent: December 13, 2011Assignee: Verint Americas Inc.Inventors: Nicholas Alexander McLean, Shimon Keren, Daryl Demos, Michael Bourke, Jason Fama
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Patent number: 8055523Abstract: In a business automation software system, a specifier setting a reminder is added to a business object to provide a arbitrary reminder to the user adding the reminder. Prior to forwarding a business object from a sender to a recipient, a specifier is added to the business object indicating a threshold time limit for a reminder to be sent to the sender. If the threshold time limit specified in the business object is determined to have expired, the reminder is automatically sent to the sender.Type: GrantFiled: September 30, 2005Date of Patent: November 8, 2011Assignee: SAP AGInventors: Sabine Finke, Ramin Bagheri, Martina Rothley
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Patent number: 8041589Abstract: The present invention provides a communication monitoring and analysis method and system. More specifically, the present invention provides a method for determining the health and overall satisfaction of employees in an organization. The determination may be made by monitoring communications generated by employees for their tone and other parameters related to their satisfaction with various decisions made within the organization.Type: GrantFiled: April 10, 2007Date of Patent: October 18, 2011Assignee: Avaya Inc.Inventors: Colin Blair, Kevin Chan, Christopher R. Gentle, Neil Hepworth, Andrew W. Lang
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Patent number: 8036926Abstract: A system and method for selecting calendar events based on examining the content of a user's recent e-mail activity. According to an embodiment of the present invention, a scheduling manager assembles a keyword list, wherein the keyword list includes a collection of keywords with associated weights for each keyword among the collection of keywords. If the scheduling manager detects at least two conflicting calendar events scheduled within a calendar program, the scheduling manager searches the at least two conflicting calendar events for at least one keyword on the keyword list. The scheduling manager computes a keyword weight score for each of the at least two conflicting calendar events. If one calendar event among the at least two conflicting calendar events has a highest keyword weight score, the scheduling manager schedules the one calendar event within the calendar program.Type: GrantFiled: March 12, 2007Date of Patent: October 11, 2011Assignee: International Business Machines CorporationInventors: Gerald F. McBrearty, Shawn P. Mullen, Jessica C. Murillo, Johnny M. Shieh
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Patent number: 8032406Abstract: A computer-implemented method involves modeling of product decisions in a retail store. The product decision variables are profit, assortment, placement, promotion, and inventory. Various rules and constraints such as facing elasticity, shelf replenishment costs, shelf space, carrying costs, facing capacity, slotting fees, and cannibalization are defined for multiple product decision variables. An objective function utilizes the rules and constraints for the multiple product decision variables. The objective function model is resolved by uses nested loops to solve for a first variable, and then using the first variable to solve for a second variable. Each decision variable in the objective function is controllable by externally determined multipliers. The objective function simultaneously models each of the multiple product decision variables by iteratively resolving the objective function into values which optimize sales, revenue, and profit for the retail store. The model is output in graphic format.Type: GrantFiled: July 28, 2006Date of Patent: October 4, 2011Assignee: SAP AGInventor: Kenneth J. Ouimet
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Patent number: 8015039Abstract: Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, are provided for verifying business objects. In one exemplary aspect, the business object and a predetermined contract defining the business object are received. The received business object is verified based on one or more tests defined by the predetermined contract. Based on the results of the verification of the business object, an indication is provided of whether the business object complies with the predetermined contract.Type: GrantFiled: December 14, 2006Date of Patent: September 6, 2011Assignee: SAP AGInventors: Frank Brunswig, Abhay Tiple
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Patent number: 8000995Abstract: In a novel computer-implemented method and system for assessing segmentation strategies, at least two models are selected for a plurality of segments. Segment performance of the segmentation strategy segments according to selected models is measured. Aggregate segmentation strategy performance data is obtained by aggregating segment performance for each segmentation strategy. Segmentation strategy performance indicia are generated to compare the aggregate segmentation strategy performance data of at least two of the segmentation strategies.Type: GrantFiled: March 22, 2006Date of Patent: August 16, 2011Assignee: SAS Institute Inc.Inventors: Chengwen R. Chu, Jack T. Bulkley
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Patent number: 7979298Abstract: Risk in business management is analyzed based on a probabilistic network approach which quantifies the impact of operational risk on financial metrics such as Value-at-Risk (VAR) and/or Potential Losses (PL). This approach provides further capability to determine the optimal placement of one or more countermeasures within a system to minimize the impact of operational risks.Type: GrantFiled: April 4, 2008Date of Patent: July 12, 2011Assignee: International Business Machines CorporationInventors: Feng Cheng, David Gamarnik, Wanli Min, Bala Ramachandran, Jonathan Miles Collin Rosenoer
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Patent number: 7953621Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for scheduling a workforce. In one embodiment, the method comprises the steps of: collecting an agent activity of a first class and an agent activity of a second class; and displaying the agent activity of the first class and the agent activity of the second class along the same timeline axis. The agent activities are collected from a contact center data source. The second class is different from the first class. Both activities are associated with the same agent. Each activity is derived from a different virtual data source.Type: GrantFiled: September 29, 2006Date of Patent: May 31, 2011Assignee: Verint Americas Inc.Inventors: Jason Fama, Uri Peleg, Michael R. Bourke, Jr., Richard M. Lawrence, Sameet Vasant Joshi
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Patent number: 7860740Abstract: Techniques for refining a schedule involve identifying schedule alternatives to an original schedule and generating one or more substitute schedules using one or more of the schedule alternatives. An objective function is used to perform an analysis of the original schedule and the one or more substitute schedules, and a refined schedule is selected based on the analysis.Type: GrantFiled: June 8, 2010Date of Patent: December 28, 2010Assignee: Southwest Airlines Co.Inventors: Ranga Anbil, Alex Michael Heinold
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Patent number: 7853467Abstract: In accordance with a method of managing work flow, tasks associated with a telecommunications service order from a plurality of worklists of computing source systems are merged into a merged worklist. Each computing source system maintains a respective worklist that includes a task associated with the service order. The tasks of the service order in the merged worklist are prioritized into a prioritized sequence to be completed on a work-when-ready basis. An error in completion of a task associated with a worklist of a source system is detected and a new task to correct the detected error is generated. Further, the worklist of the source system associated with the detected error is updated with the new task and the new task is integrated into a proper position of the prioritized sequence in the merged worklist in accordance with the work-when-ready basis.Type: GrantFiled: January 12, 2010Date of Patent: December 14, 2010Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property II, L.P.Inventors: Roger Aboujaoude, Hossein Eslambolchi, Ming-Chin Lu, John McCanuel, Jamie Montero, Sorabh Saxena
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Patent number: 7853465Abstract: A charting application generates a so-called timelink chart. To generate the timelink chart, the charting application renders a timeline axis representing a segment of time. The charting application further renders a business event axis in (orthogonal) relation to the timeline axis. Positions on the business event axis indicate respective types of business events that can occur. For each of multiple business events associated with a respective business activity, the charting application generates a corresponding event instance with respect to the business event axis and the timeline axis to indicate a type associated with a respective business event of the multiple business events and when the respective business event occurs in time. In a final step, the charting application generates a graphical link connecting multiple event instances (associated with the respective business activity) in the timelink chart to display a progression of the respective business activity over time.Type: GrantFiled: December 2, 2005Date of Patent: December 14, 2010Assignee: Oracle International Corp.Inventor: Lory Dean Molesky
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Patent number: 7848944Abstract: Techniques for refining a schedule involve identifying schedule alternatives to an original schedule and generating one or more substitute schedules using one or more of the schedule alternatives. An objective function is used to perform an analysis of the original schedule and the one or more substitute schedules, and a refined schedule is selected based on the analysis.Type: GrantFiled: June 8, 2010Date of Patent: December 7, 2010Assignee: Southwest Airlines CoInventor: Ranga Anbil
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Patent number: 7831463Abstract: Systems and methods consistent with the present invention provide a supplier performance measurement that uses historical data combined from disparate data sources to evaluate suppliers and rank the suppliers according to key performance indicators or attributes. The supplier rankings are used in a qualitative model to allocate customer demand to the suppliers based upon the supplier rankings and other factors.Type: GrantFiled: September 7, 2004Date of Patent: November 9, 2010Assignee: SAP AGInventor: Amit Nagar