Granted Patent B1

US 8,654,964 · App. 13/705,555 · Granted Feb 18, 2014

Abstract

Claims (98)

1. An agent-centric method for associating an outbound communication with an agent in an outbound contact center comprising:

receiving a list of outbound contact records, wherein each contact record indicates a respective contact telephone number and is further associated with a respective contact party profile, and wherein at least one of the contact records is associated with the respective contact party profile comprising at least one first characteristic comprising a demographic indicator;

determining an available agent from among a plurality of available agents in the contact center, wherein the available agent is associated with an agent profile comprising at least one second characteristic previously matched with the demographic indicator;

selecting a plurality of outbound contact records from the list of outbound contact records to form an attempt group, wherein the selection of the plurality of outbound contact records is based on each contact party profile comprising the demographic indicator previously matched with the at least one second characteristic of the agent profile;

originating outbound communications for the available agent by the outbound contact center, wherein the outbound communications are generated by a dialer using the plurality of outbound contact records in the attempt group;

determining a right party connect is established that is associated with one of the outbound communications generated using the plurality of outbound contact records in the attempt group; and

connecting the one of the outbound communications to the available agent.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the following operations occurring after the one of the outbound communications is connected to the available agent:

determining a second right party connect is established that is associated with another one of the originating outbound communications generated using the plurality of outbound contact records in the attempt group;

selecting a second available agent from a remaining plurality of available agents, wherein a second agent profile is associated with the second available agent that is matched with the demographic indicator; and

connecting the another one of the originating outbound communications with the second available agent.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

terminating all remaining originating outbound communications generated using the plurality of outbound contact records in the attempt group after the one of the outbound communications is connected to the available agent.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising operations performed after the one of the outbound communications is connected to the available agent:

determining an additional right party connect is established that is associated with another one of the originating outbound communications generated using the plurality of outbound contact records from the attempt group;

determining that no further agents are available having an associated agent profile matching with the at least one first demographic indicator;

determining another agent is available from among the group of available agents associated wherein the another agent is associated with another agent profile that is sub-optimally matched with the at least one first demographic indicator; and

connecting the another one of the originating outbound communications with the another agent.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining an additional right party connect is established that is associated with another one of the originating outbound communications generated using the plurality of outbound contact records from the attempt group;

determining that no further agents are available having an associated agent profile matching with the at least one first demographic indicator;

in response to determining that no further agents are available having the agent profile matching with the demographic indicator, determining whether yet another agent with yet another agent profile that does not comprise the second characteristic sub-optimally matches the at least one first demographic indicator; and

connecting the yet another agent with the another originating outbound communication.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the list of outbound contact records comprises:

receiving an initial list of outbound contact records and a priority origination matrix;

generating a plurality of ordered outbound contact record lists for a corresponding plurality of contiguous time periods using the initial list of outbound contact records and the priority origination matrix, wherein each of the plurality of ordered outbound contact record lists comprises an ordered sequence of outbound contact records based on the initial list of outbound contact records;

scheduling one of the plurality of ordered outbound contact record lists for a time period;

selecting the ordered sequence of outbound contact records from the one of the plurality of ordered outbound contact record lists for a corresponding time period as the list of outbound contact records; and

originating the outbound communications using the one of the plurality of outbound contact record lists during the time period.

7. The method of claim 1 further using a list-centric approach for matching an outbound contact with an agent, the list-centric approach comprising:

determining a second available agent from the plurality of available agents;

selecting a second plurality of outbound contact records from the list of outbound contact records regardless of contact party profile to form a second attempt group;

originating second outbound communications for the second available agent using the second plurality of outbound contact records in the second attempt group;

receiving a second right party connected associated with one of the second outbound communications of the second attempt group; and

connecting the one of the second outbound communications with the second available agent.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the list-centric approach occurs when an insufficient number of outbound contact records are selected for the plurality of outbound contact records to form the attempt group of a certain number.

9. A method for generating an outbound communication for association with an available agent in a contact center, the method comprising:

receiving a list of outbound contact records and a priority origination matrix at a dialer in the contact center, wherein the priority origination matrix indicates a prioritized order of the outbound contact records for a plurality of contiguous time periods;

generating a plurality of ordered outbound contact record lists comprising a corresponding plurality of data structures recognizable by the dialer for the corresponding plurality of contiguous time periods using the list of outbound contact records and the priority origination matrix, wherein each of the ordered outbound contact record lists comprises an ordered sequence of outbound contacts records from the list of outbound contact records;

scheduling one of the plurality of ordered outbound contact record lists for a time period; and

originating the outbound communications using the one of the plurality of ordered outbound contact record lists during the time period.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the outbound communications are associated with an attempt group comprising outbound contact records, wherein the number of outbound contact records in the attempt group is less than or equal to available resources required to make a number of calls by the dialer, wherein each outbound contact record is associated with a contact party profile with a first characteristic, and further comprising:

determining an available agent from among a plurality of available agents in the contact center, wherein the available agent has an agent profile comprising a second characteristic optimally matching the first characteristic;

selecting a plurality of outbound contact records from the list of outbound contact records to form the attempt group, wherein the selection is based on each contact party profile of the respective selected plurality of outbound contact records comprising the first characteristic optimally matching the second attribute of the agent profile;

determining a connection established by of one of the outbound communications; and

connecting the one of the outbound communications to the available agent.

11. A non-transitory computer readable tangible medium comprising instructions that when executed by a processor cause the processor to:

receive a list of outbound contact records, wherein each outbound contact record indicates a respective contact telephone number and is further associated with a respective contact party profile, wherein at least one of the outbound contact records is associated with the contact party profile comprising at least one first demographic indicator;

determine an available agent from among a plurality of available agents in a contact center, wherein the available agent is not presently engaged in an outbound communication;

determine an agent profile associated with the available agent, wherein the agent profile comprises a characteristic previously matched with the at least one first demographic indicator;

select a plurality of outbound contact records from the list to form an attempt group, wherein the selection of the plurality of outbound contact records is based on each contact party profile of the respective selected plurality of outbound contact records comprising the at least one first demographic indicator matching the characteristic of the agent profile;

originate outbound communications for the available agent, wherein the outbound communications are generated based on the plurality of outbound contact records in the attempt group;

determine a right party connect is established that is associated the outbound communication, wherein the outbound communication is one of the outbound communications generated based on the plurality of outbound contact records in the attempt group; and

connect the outbound communication to the available agent.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

determine a second right party connect is established that is associated with another one of the originating outbound communications generated based on the plurality of outbound contact records in the attempt group;

select a second available agent from a remaining set of the plurality of available agents, wherein a second agent profile associated with the second available agent comprises the characteristic optimally matching the at least one first demographic indicator; and

connect the another one of the originating outbound communications with the second available agent.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

terminate all remaining originating outbound communications generated based on the plurality of outbound contact records in the attempt group after connecting the one of the outbound communications to the available agent.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

determine an additional right party connect is established that is associated with another one of the originating outbound communications generated based on the plurality of outbound contact records in the attempt group;

determine that no further agents are available having an associated agent profile comprising the characteristic matching the at least one first demographic indicator;

determine another agent is available from among the plurality of available agents wherein an another agent profile associated with the another agent does not comprise the characteristic optimally matching the at least one first demographic indicator; and

connect the another one of the originating outbound communications with the another agent.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

receive a list of outbound contact records and a priority origination matrix;

generate a plurality of ordered outbound contact record lists for a corresponding plurality of contiguous time periods using the list of outbound contact records and the priority origination matrix, wherein each of the ordered outbound contact record lists comprises an ordered sequence of outbound contacts based on the list of outbound contact records for a respective time period;

schedule one of the plurality of ordered outbound contact record lists for a time period;

select the ordered sequence of outbound contact records from the one of the plurality of ordered outbound contact record lists during the time period; and

originate the outbound communications using the one of the plurality of ordered outbound contact record lists during the time period.

16. An outbound dialer for associating an outbound communication with an agent in an outbound contact center comprising:

a processor configured to

receive a list of outbound contact records, wherein each contact record indicates a respective contact telephone number and is further associated with a respective contact party profile, wherein at least one of the contact records is associated with a contact party profile comprising at least one first demographic indicator,

determine an available agent from among a plurality of available agents in the contact center, wherein the available agent is not presently engaged in an outbound communication,

determine an agent profile associated with the available agent, wherein the agent profile comprises a characteristic matching the at least one first demographic indicator,

select a plurality of outbound contact records from the list of outbound contact records to form an attempt group, wherein the selection is based on each contact party profile of the respective selected plurality of outbound contact records comprising the at least one first demographic indicator matching the characteristic of the agent profile,

originate outbound communications for the available agent, wherein the outbound communications are generated based on the plurality of outbound contact records in the attempt group,

determine a right party connect is established that is associated with one of the outbound communications generated based on the plurality of outbound contact records in the attempt group, and

connect the one of the outbound communications to the available agent.

17. The outbound dialer of claim 16 , further comprising:

a memory storing a plurality of outbound contact record lists and wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive a list of outbound contact records and a priority origination matrix,

generate a plurality of ordered outbound contact record lists for a corresponding plurality of contiguous time periods using the list of outbound contact records and the priority origination matrix, wherein each of the ordered outbound contact record lists comprises an ordered sequence of outbound contacts based on the list of outbound contact records,

schedule one of the plurality of ordered outbound contact record lists for a time period,

select the ordered sequence of outbound contact records from the one of the plurality of ordered outbound contact record lists during the time period, and

originate the outbound communications using the one of the plurality of ordered outbound contact record lists during the time period.

18. The outbound dialer of claim 16 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine a second right party connect received associated with another one of the originating outbound communications generated based on the plurality of outbound contact records in the attempt group;

select a second available agent from a remaining set of the plurality of available agents, wherein a second agent profile associated with the second available agent comprises a second characteristic matching the at least one demographic indicator; and

connect the another one of the originating outbound communications with the second available agent.

19. The outbound dialer of claim 16 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

terminate all remaining originating outbound communications generated associated with the attempt group after the one of the outbound communications is connected to the available agent.

20. The outbound dialer of claim 16 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine an additional right party connect associated with another one of the originating outbound communications generated based on the plurality of outbound contact records in the attempt group;

determine that no further agents are available having an associated agent profile optimally matching matched the at least one first demographic indicator;

determine another agent is available from among a group of agents wherein an another agent profile of the another agent sub-optimally matches the at least one first demographic indicator; and

connect the another one of the originating outbound communications with the another agent.

Assignments (13)