Agent-centric processing of prioritized outbound contact lists
View Patent ↗Outbound contact records for a contact center can be arranged as an ordered list reflecting a priority for reaching a party during defined time periods. For each time period, the corresponding prioritized list is used for originating outbound contacts. Originating outbound contacts involves first determining when an agent is available and determining an agent profile of the available agent. Then, records in the ordered list are searched to identify parties having a compatible called party profile matching the agent profile. When an agent is available, the selected contact records are used to generate outbound contacts and a responding party is matched to the agent. Other responding parties may be matched with other agents having the same agent profile or matched with second-best compatible agents. At certain conditions, the remaining records may be processed in a list-centric manner wherein a responding party is matched with any available agent.
1. An agent-centric method for associating an outbound communication with an agent in a contact center comprising:
determining an available agent by a computer processor from among a plurality of agents in the contact center, wherein the available agent is associated with an agent profile comprising a first indicator;
accessing at least part of a dialing list comprising a plurality of outbound contact records by the computer processor, wherein each outbound contact record indicates a respective contact telephone number and is further associated with a respective contact party profile;
selecting one or more outbound contact records from the dialing list by the computer processor to form an attempt group, wherein selection of the one or more outbound contact records is based on matching a second indicator in the respective contact party profile for each of the one or more outbound contact records with the first indicator of the agent profile;
originating an outbound communication for the available agent by a contact device using one of the one or more outbound contact records in the attempt group;
determining a connection to a remote party is established for the outbound communication; and
connecting the remote party to the available agent.
2. The method of claim 1 ,
wherein the dialing list comprises a prioritized indication of each outbound contact record in the dialing list, and
the dialing list is associated with a specified time period.
3. The method of claim 1 ,
wherein the dialing list is one of a plurality of dialing lists used by the contact device,
each one of the plurality of dialing lists comprises a respective prioritized dialing indication of each outbound contact record in the respective dialing list, and
each one of the plurality of dialing lists is associated with a distinct specified time period.
4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the dialing list is used only during the specified time period.
5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
determining an end of the specified time period has occurred;
identifying a second dialing list, wherein the second dialing list is associated with a second specified time period; and
performing the steps of claim 1 using the second dialing list in lieu of the dialing list.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
indicating in the one of the one or more outbound contact records in the attempt group that the remote party has been contacted.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
indicating in the one or more outbound contact records in the attempt group selection thereof.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
originating a second outbound communication for the available agent by the contact device using a second one of the one or more outbound contact records in the attempt group;
determining a second connection to a second remote party is established for the second outbound communication; and
based on connecting the remote party to the available agent:
selecting a second available agent from the plurality of agents having a second agent profile, wherein the second agent profile comprises a third indicator equal to the first indicator; and
connecting the second remote party with the second available agent.
9. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions for using an agent-centric approach for associating an outbound communication with an agent that when executed by a processor cause the processor to:
determine an available agent from among a plurality of agents in a contact center, wherein the available agent is associated with an agent profile comprising a first indicator;
access at least part of a dialing list stored in a memory, the dialing list comprising a plurality 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;
select one or more outbound contact records from the dialing list to form an attempt group, wherein selection of the one or more outbound contact records is based on matching a second indicator in the respective contact party profile for each one of the one or more outbound contact records with the first indicator of the agent profile;
cause an outbound communication to be originated for the available agent using one of the one or more outbound contact records in the attempt group record;
determine a connection to a remote party is established for the outbound communication; and
connect the remote party with the available agent.
10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9 , further comprising instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to:
determine an end of a specified time period has occurred;
identify a second dialing list, wherein the second dialing list is associated with a second specified time period; and
perform the operations of claim 9 using the second dialing list in lieu of the dialing list.
11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9 , further comprising instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to:
indicate in the one of the one or more outbound contact records in the attempt group that contact with the remote party has occurred.
12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9 , further comprising instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to:
indicate in the one or more outbound contact records of the attempt group selection thereof.
13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9 , further comprising instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to:
cause a second outbound communication to be originated for the available agent using a second one of the one or more second outbound contact records in the attempt group;
determine a second connection is established to another remote party for the second outbound communication; and
based on connecting the remote party to the available agent:
selecting a second available agent from the plurality of agents having a second agent profile, wherein the second agent profile comprises a third indicator equal to the first indicator; and
connect the another remote party with the second available agent.
14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9 ,
wherein the dialing list is one of a plurality of dialing lists,
each dialing list comprises a respective prioritized indication of each outbound contact record, and
each of the plurality of dialing lists is associated with a distinct specified time period.
15. A system for using an agent-centric approach to connect an outbound communication with an agent in a contact center, comprising:
a processor configured to:
determine an available agent from among a plurality of agents in the contact center, wherein the available agent is associated with an agent profile comprising a first indicator;
access at least part of a dialing list, the dialing list comprising a plurality 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;
select one or more outbound contact records from the dialing list to form an attempt group, wherein selection of the one or more outbound contact records is based on matching a second indicator in the respective contact party profile for each one of the one or more outbound contact records with the first indicator of the agent profile;
cause an outbound communication to be originated for the available agent using one of the one or more outbound contact records in the attempt group;
determine a connection is established to a remote party for the outbound communication; and
connect the outbound communication to the available agent.
16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
cause a second outbound communication to be originated for the available agent using a second one of the one or more outbound contact records in the attempt group;
determine a second connection is established to another remote party for the second outbound communication; and
based on connecting the outbound communication to the available agent:
select a second available agent having a second agent profile from the plurality of agents, wherein the second agent profile comprises a third indicator equal to the first indicator; and
connect the another remote party with the second available agent.
17. The system of claim 15 , further comprising:
a memory configured to store the dialing list, wherein the dialing list is one of a plurality of dialing lists stored in the memory and each dialing list of the plurality of dialing list is associated with a distinct time period.
18. The system of claim 15 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
cause a second outbound communication to be originated for the available agent using a second one of the one or more outbound contact records in the attempt group;
determine a second connection is established to another remote party for the second outbound communication; and
based on connecting the outbound communication to the available agent:
determine that no further agents are available having an associated agent profile matching the second indicator;
in response to determining that no further agents are available having an associated agent profile matching the second indicator, select another available agent; and
connect the second outbound communication with the another available agent.
19. The system of claim 15 , wherein the dialing list indicates a relative priority for each outbound contact record, and the processor is further configured to:
access the dialing list during a time period associated with the dialing list.
20. The system of claim 15 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
select the one or more outbound contact records from the dialing list based at least in part a relative dialing priority of each outbound contact record in the dialing list.