Initial routing of internet-protocol network telephone calls
View Patent ↗A computerized telephony call center for serving a customer base has a central switch connected to a plurality of telephones at operator workstations and adapted to route calls to individual ones of the telephones, and also connected to a public switched telephone network, and a first processor connected to the central switch by a high-speed data link and to the telephone network by a digital network connection. The first processor is adapted to monitor transactional activity of the central switch, to process the activity information according to selected routines in the processor, and to communicate processed information to a second processor over the digital network connection. The digital network connection may be a TCP\P connection. In a preferred embodiment the first processor is connected by a local area network (LAN) to network interfaces including a video display unit (VDU) and input apparatus proximate individual ones of the plurality of telephones connected to the central switch. In some embodiments the LAN is also connected to a data server running an instance of a database. In other embodiments the call center, and other similar call centers are all part of a call routing system wherein calls are routed from Service Control Points to call centers over telephone lines, and data is routed to the call centers over a separate digital network connection between processors coupled to the Service Control Points and to the call center central switches. In various embodiments aspects of the invention apply to Internet protocol network telephony (IPNT) calls as well as to conventional telephony calls.
1. A network-centric call-processing system receiving Internet Protocol Network Telephony (IPNT) calls, the system including a processor routing the received IPNT calls to addresses selected by the processor based on information about availability of a person at the address to take a call, and about one or both of presence of specific hardware or software capability at the address, or specific authorization of a person at the address to handle certain calls, the information received from persons or equipment at the addresses.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein the persons at individual ones of the addresses are agents of a single enterprise operating in a call center.
3. The system of claim 1 wherein the persons at individual ones of the addresses are agents of a single enterprise distributed over two or more call centers.
4. The system of claim 1 wherein the persons at individual ones of the addresses are agents of a single enterprise operating individually as remote agents separately connected to the network.
5. The system of claim 1 wherein a requirement for status, activity or skill level is provided by a caller associated with a specific received IPNT call.
6. The system of claim 1 further comprising a facility at the call processing system in the network for taking back and re-routing previously-routed calls.
7. A method for routing Internet Protocol Network Telephony IPNT (IPNT) calls, comprising steps of:
(a) establishing a network-centric call-processing system receiving IPNT calls; and
(b) routing the received IPNT calls to addresses selected by the processor based on information about availability of a person at the address to take a call, and about one or both of presence of specific hardware or software capability at the address, or specific authorization of a person at the address to handle certain calls, the information received from persons or equipment at the addresses.
8. The method of claim 7 wherein the persons at the addresses are agents of a single enterprise operating in a call center.
9. The method of claim 7 wherein the persons at the addresses are agents of a single enterprise distributed over two or more call centers.
10. The method of claim 7 wherein the persons at the addresses are agents of a single enterprise operating individually as remote agents separately connected to the network.
11. The method of claim 7 wherein a requirement for status, activity or skill level to route a call is provided by a caller associated with a specific received IPNT call.
12. The method of claim 7 further comprising a facility at the call processing system in the network for taking back and re-routing once-routed calls.