Patents Examined by William Deane, Jr.
  • Patent number: 9674362
    Abstract: Systems and methods of managing customer journeys are implemented using one or more processors in a computing system. Each journey may comprise a succession of interactions at interaction points such as telephone conversations, responses to an interactive voice response “IVR” system and viewing a web page. Customer journey scores are determined for customers at one or more interaction points along the customer journey and the customer journey score is used to determine whether and when an intervention should take place. Models for determining customer journey scores may be created for a set of customers based on one or both of subjective and objective data relating to a subset of the set of customers that have made some or part of the journey, e.g. customers that have responded to polls. An intervention may take place during the journey or after completion of the journey.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2017
    Assignee: NICE LTD.
    Inventors: Natalia Beatriz Piaggio, Leonard Michael Newnham
  • Patent number: 9667791
    Abstract: A method for providing communication interaction visibility includes detecting an incoming voice call communication to a communication system, determining an identifier of a caller initiating the voice call communication, retrieving a communication history related to the identifier from a messaging gateway, and providing the communication history to an agent terminal of the communication system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2017
    Assignee: Webtext Holdings Limited
    Inventors: Anthony Cahill, Colm Keating
  • Patent number: 9661138
    Abstract: A communication system and method for routing communications can include a communication device that is configured to route a communication connection based on empirical data relating to an attempted communication. For instance, in some embodiments the device of a communication system can be configured to utilize stored and classified empirical data for automatically determining a subject of an attempted communication made by a user via the user's communication terminal and dependencies the user for that attempted communication may have on a callee for use in establishing a connection for the caller based on the determined dependencies and determined subject of the attempted communication. Information regarding the determined subject of the communication attempt can be based on the stored empirical data. The attempted communication can also be rerouted to another user based on the empirical communication data if that attempted communication is not established within a pre-selected time period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2017
    Assignee: Unify GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventors: Jurgen Luers, Ingolf Thiele
  • Patent number: 9659147
    Abstract: Electronic records are formatted according to recipient addresses. When an electronic database record is received by a server or other device, the electronic database record has any formatting, herein termed a legacy format. The electronic database record is destined for delivery to device identified by a recipient address. The recipient address is associated with a software agent that reformats the legacy format into a different format. The electronic database record is thus reformatted according to software agent associated with the recipient address. A reformatted database record is thus sent to the recipient address, and the reformatted database record has the different format.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2017
    Assignee: AT&T INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY I, L.P.
    Inventors: David L. Wellons, Diane Brown Turcan
  • Patent number: 9654863
    Abstract: A computer system having a loudspeaker mounted on a main logic board by a hermetic seal, is disclosed. More particularly, embodiments of the computer system include an acoustic cavity defined between the loudspeaker, the main logic board, and the hermetic seal. Embodiments of the computer system may include a compressible seal separated from the hermetic seal by the loudspeaker and/or the main logic board. The compressible seal may define an acoustic channel and the loudspeaker may emit sound in a high frequency range through the acoustic channel toward a system exit. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2017
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Justin D Crosby, Matthew A Donarski, Andrew P Bright, Joss N Giddings, Ron A Hopkinson, Nathan A Johanningsmeier, William F Leggett, Mikael M Silvanto
  • Patent number: 9654572
    Abstract: A profile-based system is employed to manage user identities and preferences, devices, content and/or other aspects of service delivery. The user profiles may be maintained in one or more servers or other elements located in an external network access via a customer premises equipment (CPE) gateway of a local network. The profiles can be used to map users to identities, devices, services, and other features that affect the manner in which a particular user communicates with (or through) the external network.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2017
    Assignee: Comcast Cable Communications, LLC
    Inventors: Michael Connelly, Sharma Kanchinadham, Bhagabati Prasad Maharana, Louis Rubin, Michael Cook, James Tobin, Jeffrey Lewis, Bavani Subramaniam
  • Patent number: 9635172
    Abstract: When a voice call is made between two users (Caller and Callee), both of which may have access to multiple voice communication services, the connection is made automatically by the communication equipment through a selectable communication service, based upon characteristics of connection. Those characteristics may include the services available to the users, the day of the week, the time of day, the availability of the Callee on a service, the geographic locations of the Caller and Callee, and Caller pre-established service preferences. Preferably, Caller preferences and associations of callees with unique destination identifiers are stored in a database created for the Caller and available to his communication equipment. An ultimate callee identifier selected for a particular call includes an indication of communication service, and connection an appropriate interface for that service is then provided automatically for the Caller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2006
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2017
    Assignee: TP Lab Inc.
    Inventor: Shin Cheung Simon Chiu
  • Patent number: 9635540
    Abstract: Systems and methods for locating a cellular phone are provided. More particularly, systems and methods are provided that allow the location of a requested user's cellular phone to be provided to a requesting user's device (e.g., a second cellular phone) based on access rights defined by the requested user. Location descriptions may be provided at a multitude of levels. For example, if a cellular phone, or an identity associated to (e.g., logged into) a cellular phone, has been given access rights to a cell phone's exact location for an indefinite amount of time, that cell phone can receive, on command, the exact location of the approved cell phone. Other levels of location information that can be granted include, for example, proximities, states, and countries.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2017
    Inventor: Jeffrey D. Mullen
  • Patent number: 9635166
    Abstract: Customer orders and other service related events require multiple operations to fulfill and process. One example may include receiving a request message from a user device, identifying the request message as being a particular message type, pre-processing the request message to identify message content, and forwarding the identified message content to an active user interface. The request may be identified as a service request and processed by multiple entities prior to fulfilling the request(s).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2017
    Assignee: West Corporation
    Inventors: Raju Iyer, Mark Edwards
  • Patent number: 9635177
    Abstract: A call-management method and system for distributing calls to agents, wherein each agent has a profile, e.g., defining agent skills, efficiency, etc. The call center management system implements an algorithm for selecting an agent to receive a call to optimize caller utility, call center efficiency, and agent training. Therefore, the algorithm does not seek to necessarily route a call to the agent having the skill set most suited to the call; rather, the call may be routed to an agent who needs experience in the area of the call, and thus serves as a training exercise. Skilled agents may be made available to shadow the training agent when available.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2017
    Inventor: Steven M. Hoffberg
  • Patent number: 9621726
    Abstract: A computer-implemented system and method for detecting events for use in an automated call center environment are provided. A plurality of messages is monitored by a call center. Those messages sharing one or more keywords representative of one or more potential events are identified. The one or more potential events are detected based on the shared keywords. At least one of the potential events is identified as an event based on the number of messages that share the keywords representative of that potential event. Metadata regarding the event is extracted from the messages sharing the keywords representative of the event. A message regarding the event that includes the extracted metadata is generated. The generated message from the call center is provided to at least one user related to the event.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: Intellisist, Inc.
    Inventors: David Milstein, Gilad Odinak, Howard M. Lee
  • Patent number: 9621975
    Abstract: A micro electro-mechanical system (MEMS) device is provided. The MEMS device includes: a first substrate having a first surface and a second surface, and a port disposed through the first substrate, wherein the port is configured to receive acoustic waves and wherein the first surface is exposed to an environment outside the MEMS device; and a diaphragm coupled to and facing the second surface and configured to deflect in response to pressure differential at the diaphragm in response to the received acoustic waves. The MEMS device also includes a second substrate coupled to and facing the diaphragm, and including circuitry, wherein the second substrate includes a recess region forming an integrated back cavity in the MEMS device. The MEMS device also includes an electrical connection electrically coupling the first substrate and the second substrate and configured to transmit an electrical signal indicative of the deflection of the diaphragm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: INVENSENSE, INC.
    Inventors: Fang Liu, Martin Lim
  • Patent number: 9602669
    Abstract: One embodiment provides a method for allocating assignments based on workload and physiological stress. The method comprises maintaining a queue of logged-in service representatives, and, in response to receiving a service request for a new assignment, scanning the queue to determine a subset of potential service representatives to assign the new assignment to. A corresponding workload level of each service representative of the subset is the smallest among all service representatives of the queue. For each service representative of the subset, a corresponding anxiety level is determined based on physiological sensor data captured by a wearable tracking device attached to the service representative. The new assignment is assigned to a service representative of the subset, the service representative having a corresponding anxiety level that is the smallest among all service representatives of the subset.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2017
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Douglas J. Griffith, Anil Kalavakolanu, Srinivasa R. Muppala, Srinivasa M. Raghavan, Yanhua Yang
  • Patent number: 9602668
    Abstract: Systems and methods for managing multi-tenant callback services may be provided via a multi-tenant services integration platform. Several multi-tenant software as a service applications may be offered as a hosted software solution via the multi-tenant services integration platform. Various applications may deploy and support a shared tenant and shared services environment where there can be many different customers (companies and users) running in their own virtual partition from a single application instance. The applications may be multi-tenant aware and integrated into an administration portal which integrates several shared tenant services. The tenant model may allow for customized application configurations to be run from a single application instance. Further, improved methods for providing callback management, calculating estimated wait times, and providing for callback initiation may be integrated in such multi-tenant services.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2017
    Assignee: ECHOPASS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Wesley Smith, Derek Burdick, Wayne Sheppard, Dennis Empey, David Tso
  • Patent number: 9589244
    Abstract: A method of optimizing and managing processes for responding to requests (such as claims for benefits, or insurance applications) includes creating a process definition, performing an optimization of a resource employed for the process, and developing recommendations for process design or execution based on the simulation and optimization. In some cases, the resource being optimized is staffing. In some cases, the requests relate to acquisition of health insurance or governmental program services (for example, health insurance exchanges, benefit eligibility, Medicaid enrollment). The optimization may be non-deterministic and consider uncertainty factors. In some cases, a staffing level is estimated based on the optimization.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2017
    Assignee: Maximus, Inc.
    Inventor: Randall Riefel
  • Patent number: 9571660
    Abstract: Questions are received for a conference call. The questions are submitted electronically, such as by email or Instant Messaging (IM). The questions can be submitted before and/or during the conference call. The questions are clustered into one or more similar categories. The clustered questions are sent to participants of a conference. For example, the questions can be sent to a presenter of the conference call as an agenda to follow for a question and answer section of the conference call. Likewise, the questions may also be sent to the conference participants as an agenda of the question and answer section of the conference call. The presenter can discuss the questions with the conference participants based on the categorization of the submitted questions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2017
    Assignee: Avaya Inc.
    Inventors: Reinhard Klemm, Parameshwaran Krishnan, Navjot Singh
  • Patent number: 9571994
    Abstract: A method includes programmatically placing a first call to a destination phone number associated with a line, and recording the first call as a first recording; receiving a signal corresponding to an incoming call directed to a first phone number; determining, based on stored data representing association of the first phone number with the destination phone number, that the destination phone number is associated with the first phone number; routing, based on the determination that the destination phone number is associated with the first phone number, call data corresponding to the incoming call to a destination device associated with the destination phone number, and recording the call as a second recording; comparing the second recording to the first recording, and effecting communication, based on a determination that the first and second recordings match, of an alert to one or more phone numbers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2017
    Inventor: Matthew Stephen Yagey
  • Patent number: 9560464
    Abstract: The system and method of the present invention rely on combining the Speakers+Room binaural Impulse Response(s) (SRbIR) with a special kind of crosstalk cancellation (XTC) filter—one that does not degrade or significantly alter the SRbIR's spectral and temporal characteristics that are required for effective head externalization. This unique combination leads to a 3D audio filter for headphones that allows the emulation of the sound of crosstalk-cancelled speakers through headphones, and allows for fixing the perceived soundstage in space using head tracking and thus solves the major problems for externalized and robust 3D audio rendering through headphones. Furthermore, by taking advantage of a well-documented psychoacoustic fact, this system and method can produce universal 3D audio filters that work for all listeners i.e. independent of the listener's head related transfer function (HRTF).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2017
    Assignee: The Trustees of Princeton University
    Inventor: Edgar Y. Choueiri
  • Patent number: 9553988
    Abstract: A method for providing inbound call reservations to a communication center has steps for monitoring service access points into the communication center by reservation software executing from a machine-readable medium, evaluating communicators and potential communicators, and issuing invitations for reserved communication sessions to qualified communicators and potential communicators, the reserved times coordinated according to data pertaining to predicted communication load and resource availability statistics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2017
    Assignee: GENESYS TELECOMMUNICATIONS LABORATORIES, INC.
    Inventors: Nikolay Anisimov, Sergey Fedorov, Herbert Ristock
  • Patent number: 9544432
    Abstract: A dynamic call connection distributor and a related method, the distributor including an agent pool, having information of call agents, the agent pool is at least partly configurable by a plurality of individual call agents, a recipient dialer, including circuitry for dialing at least one number of predefined potential recipients for establishment of a recipient connection, an agent dialer including circuitry for establishing an agent connection from the dynamic connection distributor to a call agent, and a call linker, having circuitry for linking the agent connection with the recipient call.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2017
    Assignee: ACTIMIZER IPR HOLDING APS
    Inventor: Johan Stubbe-Ostergaard