Abstract: This disclosure provides systems, methods and apparatuses for scheduling tasks in an electronic system. In some implementations, a dynamic scheduling system allows performance-based access to a task schedule. In distributing tasks to be completed, the dynamic scheduling system prioritizes resources that are more proficient at completing the tasks over resources that are less proficient. For example, resources that are more proficient may receive higher-priority access to the task schedule than resources that are less proficient. Each resource may be assigned a proficiency score based on quantitative or qualitative performance indicators associated with tasks previously completed by the resource. Each resource is dynamically provided access to the task schedule based on its proficiency score.

Abstract: Systems and methods for a work distribution service. At a multi-tenant platform that provides a work distribution service for a plurality of external systems, a priority is assigned to a first work item of a first external system. The work item is received via a RESTful work item API call request. The priority is assigned based on work item attributes of the work item and a workflow instruction corresponding to workflow information specified by the work item. The workflow instruction is provided by the external system via a RESTful Workflow API. A worker is assigned to the work item based on: the priority of the work item, the workflow information, and worker state managed by the first external system via a RESTful Worker API. The worker state includes worker attributes. The work item is generated by the external system, and the workflow instruction is managed by the external system.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for providing assistance to customers seeking assistance from agents of an enterprise is disclosed. The method includes receiving a signal indicating the caller's wish to speak with a live agent associated with the enterprise to seek the assistance from the live agent. In response to a receipt of the signal, it is determined whether at least one live agent from among a plurality of live agents associated with the enterprise is available for a voice interaction with the caller. Subsequent to determining that no live agent from among the plurality of live agents is currently available for the voice interaction with the caller, the caller is diverted to an asynchronous messaging channel. A textual messaging-based interaction is facilitated between a messaging agent and the caller on the asynchronous messaging channel to provide the assistance to the caller.

Abstract: One example method of operation may include receiving an access request from a user device, creating a current queue position status of a user profile associated with the user device based on one or more known status identifiers associated with the user device, assigning the user profile to a sub-queue and a specified time slot of a queue, managed by a computing node, among various other user profiles stored in the queue, and initiating a communication session to the user device at a specific time.

Abstract: A dialer in a contact center is managed by a Communication Attempt Management System (“CAMS”) for tracking the total number of communications attempts, including voice calls, originated to an individual within a period of time. A list comprising account data of a plurality individuals may be processed by the CAMS to identify those accounts exceeding a weekly limit on the number of allowable communication attempts and are not authorized to receive further communications in that period of time. The list is modified to reflect those accounts which have not exceeded their corresponding limit and are authorized to be contacted. The modified list is provided to the dialer, which then originates a call to each account. The CAMS may then update each account to reflect each communication attempt made by the dialer and whether the communication is considered exempt or non-exempt with respect to the communication limits.

Abstract: A computerized method for automatic detection of an availability of an agent to attend a schedule of customer calls in a call center and reassignment thereof may include assessing an agent availability to attend a schedule in a predefined time interval before a starting time of the schedule. If the assigned agent is not available, candidate agent availability may be assessed from a plurality of schedules to participate in the schedule of the unavailable agent. One or more candidate agents from a plurality of agents may be identified to replace the unavailable assigned agent based on the candidate agent availability. A replacement agent chosen from the one or more candidate agents may be assigned based on skills or preferences for each of the one or more identified candidate agents. A supervisor may be notified that the chosen replacement agent will attend the schedule in place of the unavailable assigned agent.

Abstract: There is provided a computerized method for establishing a communication session with at least one contact based on a cross display gesture, comprising: displaying an array of contacts at a first location on a display of an interactive user interface on a screen of a client terminal; displaying an array of applications at a second location on the display of the interactive user interface, the first and second locations being located on opposite sides of the screen separated by an interactive region of the interactive user interface; identifying a cross display gesture manually performed by the user, the cross display gesture connecting a certain contact of the array of contacts with a certain application of the array of applications while crossing some of the interactive region; and establishing a communication session between the user and the certain contact activated by the certain application.

Abstract: A method of providing artificial intelligence (AI) functionality to target legacy customer outreach platforms of a plurality of tenant enterprises includes storing a plurality of AI templates, each of which is associated with one or more AI routines, generating a campaign object associating one or more of the AI templates with a tenant enterprise from among the plurality of tenant enterprises, transforming a communication on a switching network associated with the tenant enterprise according to the one or more AI templates associated with the campaign object, and providing the transformed communication to a target legacy customer outreach platform of the tenant enterprise.

Abstract: Systems and methods for intelligently routing a member of an organization to a single point-of-contact within an optimized, secure network to address all the member's healthcare needs are described. The disclosed intelligent routing configurations transform and process, in real-time, vast amounts of member data to generate aggregated diagnoses and a member score specific to each member's household. The scores, among other things, are used to determine an identification of special needs and an appropriate advocate within the organization to route the member, and its account file containing real-time member and household level data.

Abstract: Embodiments are directed towards a system and method for a cloud-based front end that may abstract and enable access to the underlying cloud-hosted elements and objects that may be part of a multi-tenant application, such as a search application. Search objects may be employed to access indexed objects. An amount of indexed data accessible to a user may be based on an index storage limit selected by the user, such that data that exceeds the index storage limit may continue to be indexed. Also, one or more projects can be elastically scaled for a user to provide resources that may meet the specific needs of each project.

Abstract: Methods to reduce agent effort and improve customer experience quality through artificial intelligence. The Agent Assist tool provides contact centers with an innovative tool designed to reduce agent effort, improve quality and reduce costs by minimizing search and data entry tasks The Agent Assist tool is natively built and fully unified within the agent interface while keeping all data internally protected from third-party sharing.

Abstract: In various embodiments, a predictive dialer in a contact center is managed by a Communication Attempt Management System (“CAMS”) that manages the total number of communications attempts, including voice calls, originated to an individual associated with an account within a period of time. In particular embodiments, a list comprising account data of a plurality individuals may be processed by the CAMS to identify those accounts which have exceeded a weekly limit on the number of allowable communication attempts and are not authorized to receive further communications in that period of time. The list is modified to reflect those accounts which have not exceeded their corresponding limit and are authorized to be contacted. The modified list is provided to the predictive dialer, which then originates a call to each account. The CAMS may then update each account to reflect each communication attempt made by the predictive dialer.

Abstract: A method of providing artificial intelligence (AI) functionality to target legacy customer outreach platforms of a plurality of tenant enterprises includes storing a plurality of AI templates, each of which is associated with one or more AI routines, generating a campaign object associating one or more of the AI templates with a tenant enterprise from among the plurality of tenant enterprises, transforming a communication on a switching network associated with the tenant enterprise according to the one or more AI templates associated with the campaign object, and providing the transformed communication to a target legacy customer outreach platform of the tenant enterprise.

Abstract: A contact center dialing a telephone number to a party, such as a debtor, may discover that the number is subject to a prohibition of being autodialed. In other embodiments, a number that was subject to the prohibition of being autodialed is now discovered to no longer be subject to such prohibition. Various mechanisms defined indicate how such a prohibition associated with the number may be indicated in a dialing list and how various contact center architectures may be used to process the dialing list. In one embodiment, separate sub-systems are used to dial separate dialing lists based on whether the number is to be manually dialed or dialed using an autodialer. In another embodiment, another architecture is used to process an integrated dialing list to determine whether a number is to be manually dialed or autodialed.

Abstract: A system and method are presented for advanced campaign management in outbound dialing platforms. In a contact center environment, a dialing campaign may be configured such that the outbound dialing platform modifies its behavior automatically throughout the dialing campaign as conditions change. Dialing campaigns may be constructed from groups, which are organized into a campaign sequence. As the campaign sequence flows between groups, details of the campaign may be monitored and evaluated by the platform. Group transitions may be initiated based on activation triggers. In an embodiment, campaign sequences may also be automatically transitioned to new campaign sequences, paused, or reset based on activation triggers. A transition may also be initiated by manual override of the platform.

Abstract: A management system for guiding an agent in a media-specific dialogue has a conversion engine for instantiating ongoing dialogue as machine-readable text, if the dialogue is in voice media, a context analysis engine for determining facts from the text, a rules engine for asserting rules based on fact input, and a presentation engine for presenting information to the agent to guide the agent in the dialogue. The context analysis engine passes determined facts to the rules engine, which selects and asserts to the presentation engine rules based on the facts, and the presentation engine provides periodically updated guidance to the agent based on the rules asserted.

Abstract: A device may receive, from a set of elements of a set of network devices, information associated with a set of parameters. The device may determine an event based on the set of parameters. The device may determine a rule set based on the event. The device may determine other events that are associated with the event based on the rule set. The device may determine statuses of the other events based on the information associated with the set of parameters. The device may evaluate a rule, of the rule set, based on the event and the statuses of the other events. The device may determine an action to be performed based on evaluating the rule. The device may cause the action to be performed in association with the element of the set of elements.

Abstract: In various embodiments, a predictive dialer in a contact center is managed by a Communication Attempt Management System (“CAMS”) that manages the total number of communications attempts, including voice calls, originated to an individual associated with an account within a period of time. In particular embodiments, a list comprising account data of a plurality individuals may be processed by the CAMS to identify those accounts which have exceeded a weekly limit on the number of allowable communication attempts and are not authorized to receive further communications in that period of time. The list is modified to reflect those accounts which have not exceeded their corresponding limit and are authorized to be contacted. The modified list is provided to the predictive dialer, which then originates a call to each account. The CAMS may then update each account to reflect each communication attempt made by the predictive dialer.

Abstract: Systems and methods for unified calling are disclosed. According to one embodiment, the method may include (1) using a soft phone application executed by a computer processor, communicating, to a telephony server, an agent status indicating a readiness of the agent to manually make a telephone call; (2) receiving, on a computer terminal, an indication of a telephone number to call; and (3) manually dialing the telephone number using a telephone. The soft phone application emulates an analog connection with the telephony server.

Abstract: The present invention relates to virtual universe product customer support. A method for providing customer service in a virtual universe in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention includes: determining that a real-world product may have a problem; collecting information associated with the product; analyzing the collected information at a support location service in the virtual universe to determine a land location within the virtual universe of a product support center for the product; and providing an avatar with a teleportation invitation to the product support center.

Abstract: A system and method are presented for learning call analysis. Audio fingerprinting may be employed to identify audio recordings that answer communications. In one embodiment, the system may generate a fingerprint of a candidate audio stream and compare it against known fingerprints within a database. The system may also search for a speech-like signal to determine if the endpoint contains a known audio recording. If a known audio recording is not encountered, a fingerprint may be computed for the contact and the communication routed to a human for handling. An indication may be made as to if the call is indeed an audio recording. The associated information may be saved and used for future identification purposes.

Abstract: Various embodiments of the invention provide methods, systems, and computer program products for determining whether a call has reached a live party or a machine. Specifically, a call handler that is handling the call analyzes a cadence of the audio of the call while a speech analytics system analyzes the audio of the call to detect one or more keywords over a call leg established between the call handler and speech analytics system. Accordingly, in particular embodiments, the call handler may make a first determination that the call has reached a live party or a machine based on the cadence of the audio and may make a second determination that the call has reached a live party or a machine based on an event received from the speech analytics system as a result of the speech analytics system detecting a particular keyword in the audio of the call.

Abstract: A multimedia router has code executable on the router from storage on a machine readable medium coupled to the router, the code providing routing functions, and a routing point identified in the router code for establishing at least one non-voice communications session between two or more communications appliances enabled for non-voice communications. During a voice call established between a calling party and one of the two or more communications appliances, the routing point is invoked from the called communications appliance by issuance of a non-voice routing request to establish at least one non-voice communications session between the called communications appliance and another of the two or more communications appliances.

Abstract: Various embodiments of the invention provide methods, systems, and computer program products for using real-time speech analytics to navigate a call that has reached a machine or service. In various embodiments, a call leg is established from a call handler handling the call to a speech analytics system configured to analyze the call to detect keywords. As the speech analytics system monitors the call, the speech analytics system sends an event to the call handler upon detecting a keyword. In turn, the call handler carries out some action based on the event that is configured to advance the progress of the call. Accordingly, if the call handler determines a live party has been reached on the call as result of the action, the call handler connects the call with a second live party to converse with the live party reached on the call.

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: A computing system for managing a plurality of resources for one or more communication sessions in an enterprise is disclosed. The computing system includes a monitoring module for monitoring one or more parameters of at least one communication session. The system further includes a database for storing one or more monitored parameters. The system further includes a calculation module for calculating a multiplicity value for each of the plurality of resources based on the stored parameters. The system further includes an allocation module for allocating the at least one communication session to at least one resource of the plurality of resources based on the calculated multiplicity value.

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: Described herein are systems, methods and computer program products for controlling operation of wireless beacons, such as Bluetooth Low Energy beacons. Multiple beacons may be controlled centrally or may work together in a cooperative fashion such that signals can be exchanged between or repeated by beacons in order to allow for signals received at one beacon to reach another beacon without requiring further central interaction. Power settings of beacons may be altered to change power consumption or to change a detectable range of the beacons.

Abstract: A dialing strategy determination engine (DSDE) for selecting a dialing strategy for placing an outbound call has determination software executing on a computerized server from a machine-readable medium, access to stored dialing strategies, contact data, and a rules set, and a port for receiving a request for dialing strategy from an outbound dialer. The determination software, upon receiving a request for a dialing strategy associated with a contact identification, consults the rule set and the contact data, selects a dialing strategy based on the rules and the data, and returns the selected strategy to the outbound dialer.

Abstract: A call is placed to a communications device. A response to the call is received from a call recipient associated with the communications device. The received response is processed based on a set of parameters. Based on processing the received response, a determination is made whether the call recipient is a human or an answering machine. If the call recipient is determined to be a human, the call is handled in a first manner. If the call recipient is determined to be an answering machine, the call is handled in a second manner that is different from the first manner.

Abstract: An automatic list scheduling (“ALS”) system monitors usage of calling lists by an administrator where the administrator terminates usage of a calling list based on various measured parameters. The ALS system is configure to learn the conditions associated with the measured parameters and, in one embodiment, recommends to the administrator when to terminate use of a current calling list in favor of another list. A learning mode gathers various samples of the measured parameters associated with calling lists, and analyzes the sample to determine a threshold value. Upon monitoring the measured values for subsequent usage of calling lists, the current measured parameters are compared to the threshold value to determine whether to generate a recommendation to the administrator. In one embodiment, the time zone of the called party and the applicable calling window is used to determine whether the current list can continued to be used.

Abstract: A management system for guiding an agent in a media-specific dialog has a conversion engine for instantiating ongoing dialog as machine-readable text, if the dialog is in voice media, a context analysis engine for determining facts from the text, a rules engine for asserting rules based on fact input, and a presentation engine for presenting information to the agent to guide the agent in the dialog. The context analysis engine passes determined facts to the rules engine, which selects and asserts to the presentation engine rules based on the facts, and the presentation engine provides periodically updated guidance to the agent based on the rules asserted.

Abstract: In accordance with various embodiments, systems and methods are provided for co-locating execution logic and state data in a distributed and clustered environment. Such a system can include a plurality of applications, executing on one or more application servers, including an event broker which identifies state data required by an actor, a database which identifies an application server where such state data is cached; and a co-location module which instantiates the actor on the application server where such state data is cached. The method includes identifying state data required by a transaction, identifying an application server where such state data is cached, instantiating execution logic for processing the transaction on the application server where such state data is cached, and executing said execution logic for processing the transaction on the application server where such state data is cached thereby providing predictable low execution latency.

Abstract: A system for enabling collaboration between two or more customer contact campaigns running within a call center environment includes at least one outbound contact server (OCS) resident on a digital medium, the OCS including an automated dialer application resident on a digital medium thereon or accessible thereto for dialing contact numbers from contact records assembled for the running campaigns, a call monitoring and recording system executing from software on a digital medium, for monitoring call dialing progress and business results of completed calls, a central data repository for storing dialing progress and business results data collected by the running outbound campaigns, and a data sharing mechanism executing from software resident on a digital medium, accessible to each campaign running on the OCS for sharing collected data among the running campaigns.

Abstract: A method for monitoring utilization of a voice over internet protocol platform in a mass calling application includes receiving calls via voice ports established by servers. Utilization information for each of the servers is aggregated in accordance with applications associated with the calls. The aggregated utilization information is separately displayed for each of the applications, each of the applications corresponding to a distinct subset of the calls.

Abstract: A web-based solution through which business entities create and manage communications campaigns, such as campaigns that afford target recipients an opportunity to be connected to a third party call center. A web interface is provided to enable a business entity customer to create a set of one or more rules that, when triggered during the campaign, cause the solution to take certain control actions in real-time, based on campaign performance. Preferably, this campaign performance is measured indirectly, i.e. without requiring a direct connection to an on-premises call center ACD. The interface provides the business entity customer with a convenient and easy-to-use display that identifies any rule that has been (or may be getting ready to be) triggered, together with a then current status of the campaign. The system takes a control action (e.g., campaign suspension, adjusting an outbound call rate, or the like) when a customer-configurable rule is triggered.

Abstract: A system for assuring agent connection for outbound calls placed in an automated outbound calling campaign includes an outbound dialing server, a digital data repository coupled to the outbound dialing server, the data repository storing outbound dialing records for automated outbound dialing, and software executing on the outbound dialing server from a non-transitory physical medium, the software providing a first function for determining for a specific outbound dialing record if the connection to a live agent must be an assured connection, a second function for dialing and engaging an agent via an internal call for reservation of the agent, and a third function for bridging the call connections forged between the system and the agent and the system and the outbound party upon answer of the outbound call.

Abstract: A location determination rule is applied by a dialer when processing a telephone number of a target party in record from a dialing list. The location determination rule indicates how a geo-location of the target party is to be ascertained, so that the time zone of the target party is ascertained. Once the time zone is known, then a local time of the target party is ascertained, and a determination can be made whether a call can be originated to the target party within a prescribed calling window. The calling window indicates the beginning and ending times, local to the target party, when calls can be attempted to the target party. In one embodiment, the location determination rule can be defined for each record in the dialing list or for all records in the dialing list.

Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a cloud computing call center that may provide a multi-tenanted platform for scalable, dynamic allocation of telephony, PBX, and call center capabilities. Embodiments of the invention include implementations of a software telephony switch in a cloud computing environment that may dynamically allocate software based PBXes, virtual interactive voice responses (IVRs), and other system components to particular calls.

Abstract: Using information for efficient allocation of network resources, such as for a communication session, is disclosed. The methods and systems can utilize one or more identifiers that can be configured to indicate the presence of one or more supported features, along with an indication of whether the supported feature is required for communication.

Abstract: A dialing strategy determination engine (DSDE) for selecting a dialing strategy for placing an outbound call has determination software executing on a computerized server from a machine-readable medium, access to stored dialing strategies, contact data, and a rules set, and a port for receiving a request for dialing strategy from an outbound dialer. The determination software, upon receiving a request for a dialing strategy associated with a contact identification, consults the rule set and the contact data, selects a dialing strategy based on the rules and the data, and returns the selected strategy to the outbound dialer.

Abstract: A computer system for controlling calls to a call target, including a processor in communication with non-volatile memory, the non-volatile memory executing code including code for receiving call target information relating to the call target, code for accessing a database and retrieving a contact rate for a time period for the call target, code for placing a call target identifier in a queue indicating the call target will be called during the time period, when the time period has a contact rate greater than a threshold rate, code for placing a call to the call target during the time period, and code for updating the contact rate based on an outcome of the call.

Abstract: In one embodiment, a method includes one or more server computing devices receiving first data associated with an activity recently performed or currently being performed by a user of one or more client computing devices. A current state of the user is inferred at least in part by analyzing at least the first data, and second data associated with one or more historical durations associated with the inferred current state is accessed. An end time associated with the inferred current state is estimated based at least in part on the second data.

Abstract: A management system for guiding an agent in a media-specific dialogue has a conversion engine for instantiating ongoing dialogue as machine-readable text, if the dialogue is in voice media, a context analysis engine for determining facts from the text, a rules engine for asserting rules based on fact input, and a presentation engine for presenting information to the agent to guide the agent in the dialogue. The context analysis engine passes determined facts to the rules engine, which selects and asserts to the presentation engine rules based on the facts, and the presentation engine provides periodically updated guidance to the agent based on the rules asserted.

Abstract: A contact center dialing a telephone number to a destination party, such as a debtor, may discover that the number is subject to a prohibition of being autodialed. In other embodiments, a number that was subject to the prohibition of being autodialed is now discovered to no longer be subject to such prohibition. Various mechanisms may be defined to indicate how such a prohibition associated with the number may be indicated in a dialing list and how various contact center architectures may be used to process the dialing list. In one embodiment, separate sub-systems are used to dial separate dialing lists based on whether the number is to be manually dialed or dialed using an autodialer. In another embodiment, another architecture is used to process an integrated dialing list to determine whether a number is to be manually dialed or autodialed.

Abstract: A contact center dialing a telephone number to a destination party, such as a debtor, may discover that the number is obsolete, e.g., the number has been reassigned to a new subscriber. A purportedly current number (called a ‘skip-trace’ number) may be obtained for the debtor, which may be a wireless number. Until the wireless skip-trace number has been confirmed as being associated with the debtor, an agent manually dials that number to minimize liability to the contact center. Once the agent has verbally confirmed the skip-trace number is associated with the debtor, a record for this number in a dialing list is updated allowing future dialing attempts to occur automatically, by using a predictive dialer. In one embodiment, a dialing list module processes the dialing list so as to detect when a number is obsolete and update the corresponding record when the number is confirmed.

Abstract: An online and offline communication processing and tracking using data processing and data/voice networks is described. A phone address from a phone address number pool is automatically assigned to a first entity. A call quality rating is determined and recorded. A call from a caller directed to the phone address is received at a call bridging system coupled to at least one network, wherein the call is associated with call signaling information. Based at least in part on the call quality associated with the caller call, the caller call is assigned to a first location in a call queue. An outbound call is generated from the call bridging system and the inbound and the outbound calls are bridged. One or more parameters of the bridged call are compared to the call quality rating. An indication is recorded regarding the successful bridging of the calls in association with an entity identifier.

Abstract: Embodiments of the invention are directed to a system, method, or computer program product for determining an appropriate course of action for a representative working to recover payment in arrears. Embodiments may determine at least one customer preference regarding limitation of representative-customer interactions; and, based on the at least one customer preference, present assistance information to the representative before or during the representative-customer interaction, the assistance information configured to at least one of inform the representative of the at least one customer preference, present the representative with at least one proposed question for presentation to the customer, or present the representative with at least one proposed method for representative-customer interaction.

Abstract: A system and method to provide telephonic teleservices management is provided. The system may comprise a session management module used to establish a session with an agent via a telephone of the agent. An agent management module may manage a work state of the agent within a plurality of sequential calls between the agent and a plurality of customers. During the session, the connection with the agent remains established between each of the sequential calls. A hub management module manages a call hub during a call of the plurality of sequential calls between the agent and a customer of the plurality of customers.

Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for conducting an outbound call campaign that involves multiple abandonment rates. In various embodiments, one or more filters are applied to a call list for an outbound call campaign to identify a first sub-list of telephone numbers with a first applicable abandonment rate and a second sub-list of telephone numbers with a second applicable abandonment rate. In particular embodiments, the first and second sub-lists are apportioned into sets of telephone numbers and a predictive dialer places telephone calls based on a first set for the first sub-list while targeting the first abandonment rate over a first particular period of time and, after placing the first group of calls, places telephone calls based on a first set for the second sub-list while targeting the second abandonment rate over a second particular period of time.