Abstract: A system for managing adaptive security zones in complex business operations, comprising a rules engine adapted to receive events from a plurality of event sources and a security manager coupled to the rules engine via a data network, wherein upon receiving an event, the rules engine determines what rules, if any, are triggered by the event and, upon triggering a rule, the rules engine determines if the rule pertains to security and, if so, sends a notification message to the security manager informing it of the triggered event, and wherein the security manager, on receiving a notification message from the rules engine, automatically establishes a new security zone based at least in part on the contents of the notification message, is disclosed.

Abstract: An exemplary method for routing work to resources in a web-based social network comprises determining a type of work in a work request from a service, determining at least one relevant capability for servicing the work request based on the type of work, determining, from a plurality of social networks, at least one resource in a social network having the relevant capability, and enabling the service to route work related to the work request to the at least one resource.

Abstract: An method of pivoting a customer among synchronous and asynchronous communications channels during a communication session.

Abstract: A new approach is proposed that contemplates systems and methods to detect patterns in at least one data stream. First, the at least one data stream is received and analyzed to detect an event in the least one data stream, wherein the detected event occurs in relation with an entity and includes at least one attribute indicative of at least one of an identity of the entity, an event type, and contact information for the entity. Once the event is detected and/or received from an external source, it is compared with a plurality of predefined patterns to determine if a match between the event and at least one of the predefined patterns is found. If a match is found successfully, a notification indicative of the entity and/or the event and the at least one predefined pattern that has been successfully matched with the event is generated and transmitted with instructions for actions by another application.

Abstract: A system and method for facilitating service representatives' self-scheduling of work. Work may be released for a given work period (e.g., one week) in multiple rounds, with the period being broken into multiple timeslots, each timeslot having one or more seats for representatives. A representative may be limited as to the number of timeslots he can commit to in a given scheduling round. A representative operates a user interface to access his personalized schedule, which indicates the status of each timeslot through different appearances (e.g., colors, line patterns). The representative commits to timeslots that have work available for which he is qualified, and the schedule is updated in real-time as work availability changes. Seats may be distributed among multiple virtual rooms in a timeslot, and a representative may need to be qualified to sit in a special room.

Abstract: An exemplary method for distributed processing of streaming data on an event protocol comprises receiving a plurality of related events from the streaming data at a node, amending a state of the related events, determining an error margin based on the amended state, and updating a current data transformation based on the amended state and error margin, thereby enabling real time analysis of streaming data.

Abstract: A system for managing adaptive security zones in complex business operations, comprising a rules engine adapted to receive events from a plurality of event sources and a security manager coupled to the rules engine via a data network, wherein upon receiving an event, the rules engine determines what rules, if any, are triggered by the event and, upon triggering a rule, the rules engine determines if the rule pertains to security and, if so, sends a notification message to the security manager informing it of the triggered event, and wherein the security manager, on receiving a notification message from the rules engine, automatically establishes a new security zone based at least in part on the contents of the notification message, is disclosed.

Abstract: A system for managing adaptive security zones in complex business operations, comprising a rules engine adapted to receive events from a plurality of event sources and a security manager coupled to the rules engine via a data network, wherein upon receiving an event, the rules engine determines what rules, if any, are triggered by the event and, upon triggering a rule, the rules engine determines if the rule pertains to security and, if so, sends a notification message to the security manager informing it of the triggered event, and wherein the security manager, on receiving a notification message from the rules engine, automatically establishes a new security zone based at least in part on the contents of the notification message, is disclosed.

Abstract: An exemplary method for distributed processing of streaming data on an event protocol comprises receiving a plurality of related events from the streaming data at a node, amending a state of the related events, determining an error margin based on the amended state, and updating a current data transformation based on the amended state and error margin, thereby enabling real time analysis of streaming data.

Abstract: An method of pivoting a customer among synchronous and asynchronous communications channels during a communication session.

Abstract: A system for adaptive call management, comprising a network-connected call manager server and a call switching means coupled to the call manager server and adapted to deliver calls to a selected target via a plurality of media channels, wherein upon receipt of a call quality indicium from a call quality monitoring means associated a media channel, the call manager server selects a specific media channel, is disclosed.

Abstract: An exemplary method for automatically simulating calling scenarios comprises the steps of receiving, from a user, information relating to a call center scenario, automatically obtaining at least one calling scenario template based on the information, automatically merging code modules specific to the scenario with the template to generate a simulation program, executing the simulation program, and providing simulation results to the user.

Abstract: A method for performing results-based routing of telephone calls. Agents handle telephone calls seeking or inquiring into a product or service. Agents are distributed among agent pools, with each pool being defined by one or more criteria, on a real-time and/or batch basis. Such criteria may reflect an agent characteristic (e.g., age, geographical location, language, hobby, skill), a level of agent performance (e.g., number or amount of sales, speed or efficiency in providing a service) or some other factor. When a call is received at a call manager, a pool of best agents or some other pool is selected (e.g., by weighting, by statistical distribution). The best available agent in that pool is identified and the call is routed to that agent. The call manager, or other entity, may record some or all of the call (e.g., voice conversation, the agent's computer input during the call).

Abstract: An exemplary method for training call center agents over a communications network using automatically selected training scenarios comprises the steps of obtaining confirmations of availability of a plurality of call center agents, determining a proctor based on proctor attributes stored in a database, selecting an agent from the plurality of agents, based on agent attributes stored in the database, to be trained by the proctor, automatically determining a training scenario based on the selected agent's attributes, and enabling the proctor and the agent to engage in the training scenario.

Abstract: An exemplary method for selecting a resource for handling a call in a distributed call-routing system comprises obtaining, at a local call-routing proxy, a request for a resource to handle a call from a local automatic call director, distributing the request to a plurality of remote call-routing proxies, each remote call-routing proxy being configured to obtain responses to the request from a plurality of servers storing data relating to a plurality of resources, process the responses from the servers to produce a first reduced number of responses and send the first reduced number of responses to the local call-routing proxy, processing responses from remote call-routing proxies at the local call-routing proxy, enabling the local automatic call director to obtain a second reduced number of responses, and enabling the local automatic call director to select a resource to handle the call.

Abstract: An exemplary method of integrating existing physical stores in call center operations comprises registering a plurality of physical stores each having at least one phone line, obtaining availability information of one or more phone lines of a registered store, determining a phone line to route a call for the registered store based on call center routing rules, and routing the call to the determined phone line.

Abstract: A system and method for facilitating transcription of an audio recording, with auditing. An IVR (Interactive Voice Response) unit makes a set of audio recordings of a caller's input during a call. The set of audio recordings is stored in a database and queued for transcription by remote agents. The recordings are forwarded to a first agent who listens to the audio and completes a form with text corresponding to the audio. The system then determines whether to audit the first agent's transcription by having another agent transcribe the same set of recordings. The recordings may be re-queued and transcribed multiple times, until two (or more) of the transcriptions match, or until some threshold number of transcriptions have been obtained. An agent may contact the caller (e.g., via telephone or electronic mail) if a recording cannot be fully transcribed.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for managing software processes to improve their stability. Each instance of a software process periodically reports its operating status to a recycler. The status information identifies how long the instance has been continuously executing and how many transactions the instance has executed during that time. If either value exceeds a threshold associated with the process or that specific instance of the process, the instance is instructed to recycle. If instructed to recycle, the instance may stop accepting new transactions, finish handling its current transactions, then restart and resume normal operation. The recycler may postpone or cancel a recycle instruction if the combined capacity of all active instances of the process is below, or may fall below, a minimum desired capacity for the process. The recycler may also recycle itself.