System and method for telephone call routing using a relational routing matrix
A system, method, apparatus, means, and computer program code is provided wherein a telephone call is received. A telephone call routing matrix is accessed, from a relational database platform, to select a service representative for the received telephone call. It may then be arranged for the received telephone call to be routed in accordance with the selected service representative.
1. A communications server, comprising:
a communication device to receive a telephone call associated with an insurance claim;
a relational database platform storing a telephone call routing matrix;
a processor coupled to the communication device and the relational database platform; and
a storage device in communication with said processor and storing instructions adapted to be executed by said processor to:
automatically determine an insured and a document identifier associated with the telephone call;
attempting to match information about the telephone call with at least one override flag to select a service representative terminal;
if the information about the telephone call does not match the at least one override flag, access the telephone call routing matrix to attempt to select a service representative terminal for the received telephone call based on information in the routing matrix, the insured, and the document identifier; and
if a service representative terminal is not selected based on the telephone call routing matrix, select a service representative terminal in accordance with a default routing rule; and
route the received telephone to the service representative terminal.
2. The communications server of claim 1 , the storage device further storing instructions adapted to be executed by said processor to:
transmit an indication of a queue priority value for the received telephone call based on at least one of: (i) an override flag, (ii) the telephone call routing matrix, and (iii) a default queue priority value.
3. The communications server of claim 1 , the storage device further storing instructions adapted to be executed by said processor to:
determine supplemental information about a customer associated with the telephone call, wherein said selection is further based on the supplemental information.
4. The communications server of claim 3 , wherein the supplemental information is determined via at least one of: (i) an interactive voice recognition system, (ii) a customer response, and (iii) pre-stored customer information.
5. The communications server of claim 3 , wherein the supplemental information includes at least one of: (i) a customer identifier, (ii) a claim identifier, (iii) the document identifier, (iv) a product identifier, and (v) geographic information.
6. The communications server of claim 1 , wherein the selection of a service representative terminal is based at least in part on: (i) dialed number information service data, (ii) a business rule, (iii) product information, (iv) a language preference, (v) queue information, and (vi) a service representative skill.
7. The communications server of claim 1 , the storage device further storing instructions adapted to be executed by said processor to:
simulate, by an administrator, receipt of a simulated telephone call, wherein the selection selects a service representative terminal for the simulated telephone call.
8. The communications server of claim 1 , the storage device further storing instructions adapted to be executed by said processor to:
interact with an end-user via a graphical user interface to adjust the telephone call routing matrix stored on the relational database platform.
9. A communications server, comprising:
a communication device to receive a telephone call associated with an insurance claim;
a relational database platform storing a telephone call routing matrix;
a processor coupled to the communication device and the relational database platform; and
a storage device in communication with said processor and storing instructions adapted to be executed by said processor to:
automatically determine an insured and an insurance policy identifier associated with the telephone call;
attempt to match information about the telephone call with at least one override flag to select an insurance claim handler;
if the information about the telephone call does not match the at least one override flag, access a telephone call routing matrix stored on a relational database platform to attempt to select an insurance claim handler for the received telephone call based on information in the routing matrix, the insured, and the insurance policy identifier;
if an insurance claim handler is not selected based on the telephone call routing matrix, select an insurance claim handler in accordance with a default routing rule;
route the received telephone to the insurance claim handler; and
simulate, based on information received from an administrator via a graphical user interface, receipt of a simulated telephone call, wherein said simulating includes selection of an insurance claim handler for the simulated telephone call.
10. The communications server of claim 9 , the storage device further storing instructions adapted to be executed by said processor to:
transmit an indication of a queue priority value for the received telephone call based on at least one of: (i) an override flag, (ii) the telephone call routing matrix, and (iii) a default queue priority value.
11. The communications server of claim 9 , the storage device further storing instructions adapted to be executed by said processor to:
determine supplemental information about a customer associated with the telephone call, wherein said selection is further based on the supplemental information.
12. The communications server of claim 11 , wherein the supplemental information is determined via at least one of: (i) an interactive voice recognition system, (ii) a customer response, and (iii) pre-stored customer information.
13. The communications server of claim 11 , wherein the supplemental information includes at least one of: (i) a customer identifier, (ii) an insurance claim identifier, (iii) the insurance policy identifier, (iv) an insurance product identifier, and (v) geographic information.
14. The communications server of claim 9 , wherein the selection of an insurance claim handler is based at least in part on: (i) dialed number information service data, (ii) a business rule, (iii) insurance product information, (iv) a language preference, (v) queue information, and (vi) a service representative skill.
15. The communications server of claim 9 , the storage device further storing instructions adapted to be executed by said processor to:
interact with an end-user via a graphical user interface to adjust the telephone call routing matrix stored on the relational database platform.
16. A computer-implemented method for routing telephone calls within a network, comprising:
simulating, based on information received from an administrator via a graphical user interface, receipt of a simulated telephone call by a computer processor of a communication server;
attempting, by the computer processor of the communications server, to match information about the simulated telephone call with at least one override flag to select a service representative terminal;
if the information about the simulated telephone call does not match the at least one override flag, accessing a telephone call routing matrix, by the computer processor of the communications server, to attempt to select a service representative terminal for the simulated telephone call;
if a service representative terminal is not selected based on the telephone call routing matrix, selecting, by the computer processor of the communications server, a service representative terminal in accordance with a default routing rule; and
transmitting an indication of the selected service representative terminal from the communications server.
17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
transmitting an indication of a queue priority value for a received telephone call based on at least one of: (i) an override flag, (ii) the telephone call routing matrix, and (iii) a default queue priority value.
18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:
automatically arranging for a received telephone call to be routed in accordance with the selected service representative terminal.
19. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
determining supplemental information about a customer associated with a received telephone call, wherein said selected is further based on the supplemental information.
20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the supplemental information is determined via at least one of: (i) an interactive voice recognition system, (ii) a customer response, and (iii) pre-stored customer information.
21. The method of claim 19 , wherein the supplemental information includes at least one of: (i) a customer identifier, (ii) an insurance claim identifier, (iii) an insurance policy identifier, (iv) an insurance product identifier, and (v) geographic information.
22. The method of claim 16 , wherein the selection of the service representative terminal is based at least in part on: (i) dialed number information service data, (ii) a business rule, (iii) insurance product information, (iv) a language preference, (v) queue information, and (vi) a service representative skill.
23. The method of claim 19 , further comprising:
interacting with an end-user via a graphical user interface to adjust the telephone call routing matrix stored on the relational database platform.