One problem faced by contact center providers is how to most effectively balance limited contact center resources against the need to provide good customer service. The present invention addresses this problem by enabling a contact center to use external resources such as freelance contact center agents and media servers. This is achieved in such a way that those external resources are controlled by the contact center and their use is effectively transparent to end users of the contact center.
1. A method of enabling a contact center to use additional, external, resources comprising:
a method executed by a contact center server, the method comprising the steps of:
accessing, over a communications network, details of services of freelance contact center entities stored on an advertisement node, the details of services being published on the advertisement node by the freelance contact center entities and including (i) qualifications of the freelance contact center entities and (ii) requirements of the freelance contact center entities, wherein the advertisement node is accessible by the a freelance contact center entities over the communications network to publish the details of services;
selecting one of the freelance contact center entities for use as an additional, external, resource of the contact center on the basis of the details of services accessed from the advertisement node;
accessing, on the advertisement node, access information about how to access control information associated with the selected freelance contact center entity;
accessing the control information associated with the selected freelance contact center entity based on the access information;
using said control information to configure a remote server of the selected freelance contact center entity for use as an additional, external, resource of the contact center such that the selected freelance contact center entity meets pre-specified requirements.
2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said pre-specified requirements are such that the contact center is then able to use the selected entity in a manner transparent to end users of the contact center.
3. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said pre-specified requirements are such that the contact center is able to control at least part of the operation of the remote server of the selected entity as part of the contact center.
4. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said control information is also used to configure the remote server of the selected entity such that it provides information about the status of the selected entity to the contact center.
5. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said entities comprise any of contact center agent stations and contact center treatment systems.
6. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said step (ii) of selecting one of the entities further comprises establishing an agreement between the contact center and the selected entity concerning provision of the external resources.
7. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said advertisement node comprises a directory of web services.
8. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said entities provide web services.
9. A server apparatus of a contact center arranged to use additional, external, resources, said server apparatus comprising:
an input apparatus arranged to access, over a communications network, details of services of freelance contact center entities stored on an advertisement node, the details of services being published on the advertisement node by the freelance contact center entities and including (i) qualifications of the freelance contact center entities and (ii) requirements of the freelance contact center entities, wherein the advertisement node is accessible by the a freelance contact center entities over the communications network to publish the details of services; and
a processor arranged to select one of the freelance contact center entities for use as an additional, external, resource of the contact center on the basis of the details of services accessed from the advertisement node;
wherein the input apparatus is also arranged to access, on the advertisement node, access information about how to access control information associated with the selected freelance contact center entity and to access the control information associated with the selected freelance contact center entity based on the access information; and
wherein said processor is also arranged to use said control information to configure a remote server of the selected freelance contact center entity for use as an additional, external, resource of the contact center such that the selected freelance contact center entity meets pre-specified requirements.
10. A non-transitory, computer readable medium carrying computer executable instructions which are arranged to control a contact center to carry out a method of enabling a contact center to use additional, external, resources, said method comprising the steps of:
accessing, over a communications network, details of services of freelance contact center entities stored on an advertisement node, the details of services being published on the advertisement node by the freelance contact center entities and including (i) qualifications of the freelance contact center entities and (ii) requirements of the freelance contact center entities, wherein the advertisement node is accessible by the freelance contact center entities over the communications network to publish the details of services;
selecting one of the freelance contact center entities for use as an additional, external, resource of the contact center on the basis of the details of services accessed from the advertisement node;
accessing control information associated with the selected freelance contact center entity using access information obtained from the advertisement node;
using said control information to configure a web service provided by the selected freelance contact center entity for use as an additional, external, resource of the contact center such that the selected freelance contact center entity meets pre-specified requirements.