Abstract: According to one embodiment of the invention, a method for managing call requests in a limited bandwidth environment includes receiving a call request from a user, determining if a voice channel on a communication link is available for the call request, and providing a feedback signal for the user indicating when a voice channel will be available.

Abstract: A method, system and product for managing a hold queue is provided. A call center receives an incoming telephone call from at least one caller and places the caller in an initial position in the hold queue. When a caller is in a hold queue at a call center, a request can be made to pause the caller's position in the hold queue. When the caller is ready to return to the hold queue or when the pause duration has expired, the caller becomes active in the hold queue.

Abstract: The present invention, relates to an automated call distribution platform that has the ability to analyze a call queue and determine if a call qualifies for participation in an interactive application, invite a caller to participate in the application and, if the caller agrees, execute the application, then after completion of the application the call advances in the queue to a position ahead of where it currently resides. Thus, the present invention has both the benefit of lessening the caller's wait in a call queue and allows that automated call distribution platform owner to have its customers participate in an application. An exemplary application may be a survey, that can collect valuable information from the callers.

Abstract: The invention relates to a system (100) for allocating service resources to users (20) thereof, which service resources are intended to be provided at at least one service point (10) for service at one or more associated operator positions. The system comprises at least one user terminal (30) arranged for two-way communication with the device (13) via a first and/or a second communication network and at least one device (13) for managing at least one queue and queue information. The first communication network comprises a node for the reception and transmission of messages and the second communication network comprises a server, for example a Web server (18). The invention also relates to the device (13), a computer program, a computer program product and a method.

Abstract: A communications system provides for the establishment of audio/video/data connections between system users employing a personal computer and Web browsers, to agents of a business or organization. A business or organization may provide a Web server through which system users may connect either over a data network or over the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). Once connected, various screen displays may be provided through which system users may enter account or other personal information which the server may employ to locate a profile for the system user. A system user may be provided the option to establish communication with an agent in a number of different modes. Once a mode is selected, the system user will be connected with an agent who is best able to serve the system user based on the profile information found in memory.

Abstract: A method and system are provided for availing to an external user, in real time, particular information regarding the availability of at least one agent in an automatic call distribution (“ACD”) system, e.g., prior to the connection being made. Initially, status data is received from the ACD system. The status data may include a number of agents available on the ACD system and/or a current wait time that at least one further user is waiting to be connected the agent. Then, the status data is configured so that the external user is able to obtain the particular information based on the status data.

Abstract: A router routes calls to a network of call centers based on estimated call in-queue wait times (EWTs). The router periodically polls all call centers for the EWT and average advance time (AAT) of each queue, and increments each received EWT by a product of the AAT and the number of calls sent to that queue during the network delay time. Between polls, each time that an AAT period expires, its corresponding EWT is decremented by the AAT (but not below zero). When a call is received for processing by a skill/split, the router sends it to the skill/split queue that presently has the shortest EWT, and increments that EWT by the corresponding AAT.

Abstract: A customer service call system that provides both manual (assisted by a service representative) and automated problem solving dialogs. A routing process determines which dialog is appropriate for incoming calls. The routing process determines a probability that the automated system will resolve the problem and also determines an expected hold time for the customer to reach the manual dialog. The routing process uses this information to determine how the call should be routed.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for controlling administration of Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) queues of an ACD or network of ACDs by a caller, and of communicating data to and from an ACD Agent. The caller receives information concerning the status of queues in one or a plurality of ACDs. If the caller wishes to communicate with a particular Agent, wait time for that Agent is provided to the caller. The caller can select a particular Agent, and will be connected when that Agent becomes available subject to other restrictions of the ACD queue. The caller can prepare information for transmission to an answering Agent while the caller waits. Advantageously, the caller can control which Agent or which sub-group of Agents should respond to his/her call, taking into account the different waiting times associated with a particular Agent or the first available Agent when the caller reaches the top of the queue. Advantageously, the caller can link to ACD Agents from multiple companies by accessing an ACD Network.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for controlling administration of Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) queues of an ACD or network of ACDs by a caller, and of communicating data to an ACD Agent. The caller receives information concerning the status of queues in one or a plurality of ACDs. If the caller wishes to communicate with a particular Agent, wait time for that Agent is provided to the caller. The caller can select a particular Agent, and will be connected when that Agent becomes available subject to other restrictions of the ACD queue. The caller can prepare information for transmission to an answering Agent while the caller waits. Advantageously, the caller can control which Agent or which sub-group of Agents should respond to his/her call, taking into account the different waiting times associated with a particular Agent or the first available Agent when the caller reaches the top of the queue.

Abstract: A personal assistant system uses context to intelligently make contacts and for provisioning an address book. The system can be customized by subscribers for all or specific contacts. The system uses history information to make predictions of whether calls will be successful when no preference is specified by the user.

Abstract: Presented is a method and system for visually depicting performance levels in a time-varying environment such as a workplace experiencing time-varied workloads. A call center is one example of such a workplace. One embodiment includes a graphical depiction with a reference time period, such as a work day, on a the horizontal axis. A vertical axis displays, for example, the length of time an incoming call must wait before being answered. As calls come into the call center a symbol is placed horizontally on the graph corresponding to the time during the reference time period that the call was received, and vertically according to the time the caller had to wait before a call center agent answered the call. Other information may also be superimposed on the graph, such as a call center service metric, and abandoned calls.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to a contact center and methodology for servicing non-real-time contacts. The advance time for the non-real-time contacts is determined by subtracting the time of service for an earlier item from the time of service for a later item. Items that are serviced immediately after certain types of predetermined events, e.g., the queue containing the non-real-time contacts has no working agents; the queue is empty; the system clock is changed; and the system is rebooted are ignored in estimating the wait time for enqueued items. Using this methodology, accurate wait-time predictions are provided for more efficient management of the contact center.

Abstract: A call center includes functionality for dynamically varying a threshold value associated with each of a number of different call types (i.e., skills) to be handled by the call center. A group of agents and a group of reserve agents are provided within the call center for use in handling incoming calls. A dedicated subgroup of agents is assigned to service each of the call types in the call center. In addition, one or more reserve agents are assigned to service a particular call type when an expected wait time associated with the call type exceeds a threshold value. The threshold value associated with each call type is dynamically adjusted during call center operation based on a measured service level being provided to a corresponding call type. In one embodiment, the threshold value for a call type is adjusted based on a comparison between a measured service level and a predetermined service level target associated with the call type.

Abstract: A method enables call management on a queue. An incoming call is placed on a queue and may be suspended at a predetermined position for a predetermined period such that the call does not advance on the queue during the predetermined period. The predetermined position may be any desired position on the queue and the predetermined period may be a wait time or a number of calls on the queue, for example. The caller may further receive an estimated wait time or queue length and may request a maximum desired wait time, a change in wait time, or a change in communication method.

Abstract: The estimated call waiting time process uses sampling statistics gathered over a moving window to determine the expected call wait time for each particular call into a call center. The window size is dynamically changed based on sampling theory and changes to call arrival rates and agent availability.

Abstract: A system and method for predicting the wait time of a caller to a call center is disclosed. The call center associates a set of agents to which the caller may be queued. This set of agents selected may depend on the skills that each agent possesses, the type of service request made by the caller, caller priority, time of day, day of week and other conditions. An initial wait time estimate may then be given to the caller who is just queued. As a caller's conditions may dynamically change, a caller's position in the queue may also change as well as the pool of available agents. Periodic wait time estimate updates may also be given to the queued caller. A caller's wait time may be estimated based upon mean inter-arrival times for recently past calls into the call center. An average inter-arrival time may be calculated for the last several calls. Alternatively, a caller's wait time may be estimated based upon calls that are recently queued and dequeued.

Abstract: The distribution of calls to directory inquiry centers is concentrated in a server which reduces the traffic between the centers. For a given center, the server cyclically determines a forecast waiting time of the calls as a function of an average waiting time per call which it estimates for the given center, and compares the forecast waiting time with two thresholds so as to decide to route the calls to the given center or to another, less heavily loaded, inquiry center, and with two other thresholds so that the given center accepts calls from other, more heavily loaded centers, or refuses them if it is itself saturated.

Abstract: To improve the prediction of wait times of calls (23) waiting to be processed, or to improve the prediction of completion times of calls that are presently being processed, in low-volume call centers (10) or splits/skills (21), additional data points are created—either manually or automatically—during the processing of each call that is presently being processed, for use in effecting wait-time estimates of the waiting calls. At each of the plurality of points in the processing of each of the plurality of calls, information about the call that is relevant to how long completion of the processing of the call is likely to take is obtained (200). This information is applied to historical information about previously-processed calls to estimate (202) how long completion of the processing of each of those calls is likely to take, i.e., how long it will be before the agents (25) who are processing those calls become available to handle the waiting calls.

Abstract: A method for providing a wait-time service in a telecommunications network and a telecommunications system, comprising user terminals connected to a network via radio path. When a terminal user must wait for a requested service from the service provider, this is often indicated by a queue tone, a busy tone, or a piece of music, depending on the terminal used. The objective of this invention is, on the one hand, to avoid compressing and coding messages, such as a piece of music, and on the other hand, to avoid wasting a lot of spectrum. This objective is achieved by offering a new service by means of which it is possible to start and execute a wait-time service at the terminal of the user when the requested connection is not available immediately. However, the wait-time service can be provided in fixed networks, too.

Abstract: A customer service call system that provides both manual (assisted by a service representative) and automated problem solving dialogs. A routing process determines which dialog is appropriate for incoming calls. The routing process determines a probability that the automated system will resolve the problem and also determines an expected hold time for the customer to reach the manual dialog. The routing process uses this information to determine how the call should be routed.

Abstract: A system and method provide for the modeling of a virtual call center for PSTNs in specified geographic locations. The system includes a user interface through which basic configuration and forecast information may be input for one or more PSTNs. Based on the information provided through the interface, various financial and engineering rules are employed to identify an optimal system configuration and to provide cost and revenue information with regards for that system. In configuring the optimal system, a number of fault and failure modes may be taken to account.

Abstract: Apparatus and a method for establishing a cellular mobile call. If no radio traffic (voice or data) channels are available for a calling or called mobile station (MS), then a test is made to determine the expected wait time before a channel becomes available. If the expected wait time is less than a first threshold, then the call or the call request is queued. If a channel for an incoming call to an MS does not become available before a second time threshold, then the caller is notified by an announcement that the call has been queued and is expected to be established in a short time. If the caller of an incoming call to the MS does not disconnect, then the MSC waits for an available channel and establishes a connection to the MS over that available channel. For an outgoing call from an MS, a control message is sent to the MS to trigger an indication of the queued status to the user. The indication may be one or more tones, a data display, or the playing of a pre-recorded announcement.

Abstract: The system for automatically routing calls to call center agents in an agent surplus condition provides the call center administrator with an automatic agent assignment paradigm which functions to automatically increase the efficiency of assigning multiple skill agents to contacts. The presence of an agent surplus condition provides the present system with a plurality of choices in the assignment of the agent to process a presently received contact. Since the agents who staff the call center include multiple skill agents, the system must make a determination of not only which of the available agents is the best equipped to handle the present contact, but also how that assignment statistically effects the efficiency of successive assignments of agents to contacts next received, based upon the past performance of the agents and the call center.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for measuring holding time in a communication network. Using traffic volume and call attempt number measurements from earlier measurement intervals as well as the current interval makes it possible to calculate the holding time parameters of the calls generated during the current interval in a much more accurate way. The method can be incorporated into performance management systems or any other systems or tools post-processing measurement results from network elements. As examples three practical implementations are described.

Abstract: Presented is a method and system for visually depicting performance levels in a workplace experiencing time-varied workloads. Call centers, an example of such workplaces, are complex environments that receive a plurality of incoming calls regarding a number of different issues. Each call center establishes metrics to answer a certain percentage of calls within a certain period of time. A graphical depiction using a reference time period as the horizontal axis, such as the length of work day, and a response time, such as the length of time an incoming caller has to wait before being answered, on the vertical axis can be used to convey to a call center manager a call centers ability to meet its metric. As calls come into the call center a symbol is placed horizontally on the graph corresponding to the time during the reference time period that the call was received and vertically according to the time the caller had to wait before a call center agent answered the call.

Abstract: A call center (100) rejects further calls when the sum of the present time, the anticipated call in-queue wait time (112), and the anticipated call service time (114) for this type (106-108) of call exceeds the closing time of the call center. The call center may redirect the rejected calls to another call center if it determines that the other call center can service them by its closing time.

Abstract: The estimated call waiting time process uses sampling statistics gathered over a moving window to determine the expected call wait time for each particular call into a call center. The window size is dynamically changed based on sampling theory and changes to call arrival rates and agent availability.

Abstract: An Internet Protocol Network Telephony call center system has a plurality of call centers managed by a central controller. The central controller accepts IPNT calls and routes the calls to the plurality of call centers to be distributed to agents based on status of the call centers maintained in a stat-server coupled to the central controller. The call centers periodically report call center status to the stat-server at the central controller via dedicated data links. In the event of failure of a data link between a call center and the central controller, the central controller continues to route calls by retrieving historical data previously reported for the disconnected call center, estimating the current status of the call center based on the historical data, and using the estimates with current status of other call centers in making routing decisions.

Abstract: The distribution of calls to directory inquiry centers is concentrated in a server which reduces the traffic between the centers. For a given center, the server cyclically determines a forecast waiting time of the calls as a function of an average waiting time per call which it estimates for the given center, and compares the forecast waiting time with two thresholds so as to decide to route the calls to the given center or to another, less heavily loaded, inquiry center, and with two other thresholds so that the given center accepts calls from other, more heavily loaded centers, or refuses them if it is itself saturated.

Abstract: A call center is configured to include a capability for generating measures of occupancy for one or more agents. At least one value characterizing an occupancy measure determination for a given agent is stored in a memory associated with the call center, and used in generating an occupancy measure for that agent. In an illustrative embodiment, a set of stored values for the given agent includes an initial occupancy value for the agent, expressed in terms of a percentage. The occupancy measure for the agent may then be set to the initial occupancy value upon a log-in by the agent, so as to avoid undue oscillation in the occupancy measure after log-in. The set of stored values for the given agent may also include, for example, a limit which specifies a maximum amount of time for a designated activity which is to be considered as occupied time in generating the occupancy measure, or a limit which specifies a maximum effect of a designated activity in generating the occupancy measure.