Abstract: Various embodiments of the invention provide methods, systems, and computer program products for establishing a target handle time (THT) for a communication routed to an agent in a contact center. In particular embodiments, a mechanism is provided on a GUI displayed to the agent that allows the agent to identify a reason for the communication. While in other embodiments, an event occurs related to the communication that signals the reason. Accordingly, a THT is set for the communication based on the identified reason and a visual representation of the THT is displayed that includes a component decrementing with the passage of time. At some point, the communication is completed and a disposition code is entered for the communication. Accordingly, in particular embodiments, the disposition code is then confirmed to match the reason for the communication to ensure the correct reason was identified and the correct corresponding THT was set.

Abstract: Various embodiments of the invention provide methods, systems, and computer program products for providing near real-time feedback to an originating agent on one or more instances initiated by the originating agent during a text-based communication being conducted between the originating agent and a remote party. In various embodiments, a determination is made that the one or more instances initiated by the originating agent for the text-based communication require verification and as a result, a verification agent is located to review the instances before they are delivered to the remote party. Accordingly, upon the verification agent editing the text of one of the instances, the instance is delivered to the remote party displaying the edited text and the edited text is also displayed to the originating agent at virtually the same time to provide the originating agent with near real-time feedback on the instance.

Abstract: Various embodiments of the invention provide methods, systems, and computer program products for establishing a target handle time (THT) for a communication routed to an agent in a contact center. Specifically, an analytics component is used to detect a keyword in the communication that identifies a reason for the communication. Accordingly, a THT is set for the communication based on the identified reason and a visual representation of the THT is displayed that includes a component decrementing with the passage of time. At some point, the communication is completed and a disposition code is entered for the communication. Accordingly, in particular embodiments, the disposition code is then confirmed to match the reason for the communication to ensure the correct reason was identified and the correct corresponding THT was set.

Abstract: A real-time speech analytics system (“RSTA system”) detects speech during a call involving a contact center agent and a remote party. Upon detecting the speech, an event message is generated by the RTSA system and transmitted to a checkpoint and alert reporting module (“CARM”), which is configured to generate and update a checkpoint widget displayed to the agent. The CARM may also store, and retrieve, meta-data regarding speech which may have been detected in conjunction with the checkpoint. The meta-data may be stored in a manner that is separate from storing the audio recordings of the call. The CARM may also process user search queries for checkpoint meta-data for calls based on various specified criteria. The checkpoint meta-data for a particular call may be then selected and reviewed by the supervisor separate from the retention of the audio of that call.

Abstract: Various embodiments of the invention provide methods, systems, and computer program products for handling an audio path failure and/or non-conformant QoS for a call between a contact center agent and remote party. Specifically, an audio path is established to a first telephony device being used by the agent and a call is bridged onto the audio path so that audio can be streamed back-and-forth between the first telephony device and a second telephony device being used by the party. Accordingly, various embodiments of the invention involve monitoring the audio path to detect an audio path failure and/or non-conformant QoS for the audio and bridging the call onto a second audio path when a failure or non-conformant QoS is detected so that the call is not disconnected from the second telephony device and a third device (e.g., IVR) can stream audio over the second audio path to the second telephony device.

Abstract: Various embodiments of the invention provide methods, systems, and computer program products for establishing a target handle time (THT) for a communication routed to an agent in a contact center. Specifically, an analytics component is used to detect a keyword in the communication that identifies a reason for the communication. Accordingly, a THT is set for the communication based on the identified reason and a visual representation of the THT is displayed that includes a component decrementing with the passage of time. At some point, the communication is completed and a disposition code is entered for the communication. Accordingly, in particular embodiments, the disposition code is then confirmed to match the reason for the communication to ensure the correct reason was identified and the correct corresponding THT was set.

Abstract: An employee, such as a call center agent, is monitored for compliance with a work schedule based on their work location. The call center agent's physical location is periodically monitored by a schedule adherence system that includes a mobile device executing a mobile application. Location information associated with that agent is compared with location information when the agent is working during their scheduled shift. A significant deviation from the known location may be reported as a potential deviation from a defined work schedule for that employee. The call center agent can also be monitored prior to the beginning of a shift to determine if the agent will be arriving at work in time to begin their shift as scheduled. Substitute agents may be scheduled and notified in time to fill the position of the late agent.

Abstract: A dialing list comprising call records can be processed by a call handling component(s) in a contact center in various dialing modes. A call record may be processed to originate a voice call, where the agent manually dials the call as a voice telephone call. In another embodiment, the call record can be processed to originate a SMS text call, where the agent also determines when the call originates. In each embodiment, the agent is presented with a graphical user interface tailored to the dialing mode. The dialing mode used may be defined by the dialing list the call record is retrieved from, information from within the call record itself, application of a rule, or input from the agent. Once the dialing mode is selected, it may be altered under certain conditions. When the call is originated, various compliance oriented tests, including calling windows and call attempts, are performed.

Abstract: An architecture and process flow for a system that processes event notifications from a speech analytics system for the purpose of controlling the recording of calls in a contact center for various contexts. Based on the regulatory context of the call, call recording may require requesting and receiving consent from the remote party to record the call. A speech analytics system operating in conjunction with an event handler module and a call recording application specific module can facilitate automatically recording the call and minimize agent intervention. The application specific module may provide icons and text on the agent's display to remind or inform the agent of the context and various conditions. The application specific module may also control various recording equipment.

Abstract: A real-time speech analytics system (“RSTA system”) detects speech during a call involving a contact center agent and a remote party. Upon detecting the speech, an event message is generated by the RTSA system and transmitted to a module, which is configured to generate a topic meta-data record stored in a topic meta-data file. A real-time topic dashboard indication may be presented on a graphical user interface to a user based on analysis of a plurality of topic meta-data records. Selection of the topic dashboard indicator may result in presentation to the user of further text-based information about detection of the speech event for one or more calls. Selection of the further information for a particular call may result in a corresponding portion of recorded audio of that call associated with the speech event to be retrieved using the corresponding topic meta-data record and played to the user.

Abstract: Various embodiments of the invention provide methods, systems, and computer program products for generating a roster template used in scheduling agent resources to conduct a first campaign and a second campaign involving two different channels of communication. Specifically, forecasts are generated for the first and second campaigns and agent resources needed to handle communications forecasted for each campaign are identified. A roster template is generated that includes one or more shifts to schedule based on the agent resources identified for the first campaign and evaluated to identify whether a deficiency exists with respect to the one or more shifts not meeting the agent resources identified for the second campaign. If so, the one or more shifts are revised so as not to cause a second deficiency with respect to the first campaign.

Abstract: Various embodiments of the invention provide methods, systems, and computer program products for pacing outbound communications that generate inbound communications. A number of outbound communications is set to be sent during a first time period and a number of inbound communications expected to be received as a result of sending the outbound communications is determined based on historical data along with a second time period during which the inbound communications are expected to be received. Accordingly, a present capacity is determined during the first time period with respect to one or more resources that are to be used during the second time period to handle the number of inbound communications expected to be received. A determination is made as to whether the present capacity is at an acceptable level and if so, then the outbound communications are sent.

Abstract: Various embodiments of the invention provide methods, systems, and computer program products for handling an audio path failure and/or non-conformant QoS for a call between a contact center agent and remote party. Specifically, an audio path is established to a first telephony device being used by the agent and a call is bridged onto the audio path so that audio can be streamed back-and-forth between the first telephony device and a second telephony device being used by the party. Accordingly, various embodiments of the invention involve monitoring the audio path to detect an audio path failure and/or non-conformant QoS for the audio and bridging the call onto a second audio path when a failure or non-conformant QoS is detected so that the call is not disconnected from the second telephony device and a third device (e.g., IVR) can stream audio over the second audio path to the second telephony device.

Abstract: Configuration parameters are defined for indicating when and how a call handled by a call handler is to be streamed to a speech analytics system (“SAS”). The parameters may indicate when a call is to be streamed by identifying certain campaigns which calls associated therewith are to be streamed to the SAS. The parameters may also identify how the streaming is to occur, namely via a single audio stream, a mixed audio stream, or dual audio streams. When using dual audio streams, a stream for the agent audio is established separately from a stream for the remote party audio. In addition, procedures are indicated for determining whether sufficient number of licenses are available for interfacing with the SAS. The number of licenses used for a call depends on whether the configuration parameters indicate one or two streams are to be established.

Abstract: Various embodiments of the invention provide methods, systems, and computer program products for generating a roster template used in scheduling agent resources to conduct a first campaign and a second campaign involving two different channels of communication. Specifically, forecasts are generated for the first and second campaigns and agent resources needed to handle communications forecasted for each campaign are identified. A roster template is generated that includes one or more shifts to schedule based on the agent resources identified for the first campaign and evaluated to identify whether a deficiency exists with respect to the one or more shifts not meeting the agent resources identified for the second campaign. If so, the one or more shifts are revised so as not to cause a second deficiency with respect to the first campaign.

Abstract: An architecture is provided for handling event notifications generated by a speech analytics module (“SAM”) that recognizes keywords present in the audio of a call between an agent in a contact center and a remote party. In one embodiment, an event handler module receives and forwards the event notifications to various application specific modules (“ASMs”). The forwarding process may vary on the content and/or type of event notification received. Each ASM performs the processing for a particular audio context and may generate call instance data that pertains to the audio context and indicates whether the agent complied with various requirements during the call. The call instance data may be stored in a file for evaluating the agent's performance. The ASM may also perform other actions as appropriate, such as providing visual indicators on the agent's computer desktop or notify the agent's supervisor.

Abstract: Various embodiments of the invention provide methods, systems, and computer-program products for predicting an outcome for an event of interest associated with a contact center communication. That is to say, various embodiments of the invention involve predicting an outcome for an event of interest associated with a party involved in a contact center communication based on characteristics and content of the communication conducted with the party by utilizing one or more classifier models.

Abstract: Configuration parameters are defined for indicating when and how a call handled by a call handler is to be streamed to a speech analytics system (“SAS”). The parameters may indicate when a call is to be streamed by identifying certain campaigns which calls associated therewith are to be streamed to the SAS. The parameters may also identify how the streaming is to occur, namely via a single audio stream, a mixed audio stream, or dual audio streams. When using dual audio streams, a stream for the agent audio is established separately from a stream for the remote party audio. In addition, procedures are indicated for determining whether sufficient number of licenses are available for interfacing with the SAS. The number of licenses used for a call depends on whether the configuration parameters indicate one or two streams are to be established.

Abstract: A real-time speech analytics system (“RSTA system”) detects a speech condition during a call involving a contact center agent and a remote party. Upon detecting the speech condition, an alert message is provided to an alert reporting module (“ARM”), which is configured to access various data to form a RTSA alert. In one embodiment, the RTSA alert is a transient alert indication overlaid on an agent icon on a grid where the agent icon represents the agent and is displayed to a contact center supervisor. Information on the type and severity of the alert may be conveyed by text and non-text images, such as icons, colors, or symbols. A number representing a cumulative number of alert messages received for each agent may be indicated in an alert bubble overlaid on the agent icon. A viewer is able to request detailed alert data upon selecting the alert bubble.

Abstract: Various embodiments of the invention provide methods, systems, and computer program products for generating a roster template used in scheduling agent resources to conduct a campaign involving sending outbound communications using a first channel of communication to generate inbound communications using a second channel of communication. Specifically, a forecast is generated establishing a success rate for generating an inbound communication using the second channel of communication as a result of sending an outbound communication using the first channel of communication and an average response time to receive the inbound communication. Further, the forecast identifies a number of inbound communications predicted to be received for the campaign.