Method and apparatus for extending contact center configuration data for access by third-party applications over a data network
View Patent ↗A system for transforming and transmitting communication-center configuration and service data from a communication-center environment to one or more third-party applications over a data network includes an intermediate service point connected to the network between the communicating parties, a set of application program interfaces for transforming and transmitting communication-center data from the center to the intermediate service point, and a set of application program interfaces for transmitting the communication-center data from the service point to one or more of the third party applications. In a preferred application, the third-party applications can be disparate platforms, and Java-based data is sent to the service point from the center and used for instantiating at least one data model, the model described as an XML document, which is rendered accessible in whole or part to a requesting third-party application or applications according to protocol used by the third-party application or applications.
1. A system including at least one processor for transforming and transmitting communication-center configuration and service data from a communication-center environment to one or more third-party applications over a data network comprising:
a software application executing on a Web server from a non-transitory computer-readable medium, the software application coupled over a wide area data network to both a first communication-center and a second communication center; and
a set of application program interfaces (APIs) transmitting at least first communication-center configuration and service data from said first communication-center to said server executing said software application;
wherein the configuration data transmitted to the software application is transformed by the software application to be compatible with software and hardware operating at the second communication center, and is transmitted in the transformed state to the second communication center, the configuration data is used at the second communication center to configure software and hardware allowing interaction with hardware and software at the first communication center and to operate in a whole or limited fashion as the first communication center operates,
wherein the configuration data is Java-based data and comprises one or more of statistical data, queue-service data, and interactive-voice-response service data, and
wherein the software application executes on the Web server hosted on the Internet network and configuration data is accessible to the second communication center through a set of Web services.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein the wide-area data network is the Internet network.
3. The system of claim 1 wherein the wide-area data network is the Internet network combined with at least one sub-network.
4. The system of claim 1 wherein the second communication center is a customer relations management (CRM) system.
5. A method for transforming and transmitting communication-center configuration and service data from a communication-center environment to one or more third-party applications over a data network, comprising steps of:
coupling a software application executing on a Web server from a non-transitory computer-readable medium between a first communication-center and a second communication center over a wide-area data network;
transforming by the software application communication-center configuration and service data provided by said first communication center from a first form used by the communication center to a form usable by the second communication center;
transmitting over the wide-area data network at least requested portions of the configuration and service data to the second communication system; and
configuring software and hardware at the second communication center using the received configuration and service data allowing interaction with hardware and software at the first communication center and to operate in a whole or limited fashion as the first communication center operates,
wherein the configuration data is Java-based data and comprises one or more of statistical data, queue-service data, and interactive-voice-response service data, and
wherein the software application executes on the Web server hosted on the Internet network and configuration data is accessible to the second communication center through a set of Web services.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein the second communication center is a customer-relations-management system.