Server for providing enhanced services to contact center agents
View Patent ↗A technique is disclosed that enables a contact center to provide enhanced services to its agents. An agent server is interconnected with the automatic call distributor (ACD) and agent telephones of the contact center. The server intercepts messages sent by the ACD, which contain caller-provided data obtained by an interactive voice response system. When it is determined that the particular agent has access to both a telephone and a personal computer, the agent server draws a distinction in the information content of the received message. In doing so, the agent server provides the call initialization information in the message to the agent's telephone, and appears as if the information were coming from the ACD; additionally, the agent server provides the caller-provided data to the agent's personal computer. The personal computer is then able to execute a predetermined application, such as a display-oriented presentation application, based on the caller-provided data.
1. A method comprising:
receiving, at a server computer, a first message comprising i) caller-provided data from a calling endpoint and ii) indicating a call to a first address that corresponds to a first telecommunications endpoint;
determining whether the first address is associated in a database with a second address that corresponds to a second telecommunications endpoint;
transmitting, based on the determining step, a second message to the second telecommunications endpoint, the second message comprising the caller-provided data;
initializing the first telecommunications endpoint to be the recipient of voice packets that are originated by the calling endpoint during the call;
receiving, from the second telecommunications endpoint, a third message after the transmitting of the second message; and
transferring the calling endpoint to an interactive voice response system, based on the receiving of the third message.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the first and second telecommunications endpoints are physically distinct.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein the first telecommunications endpoint is a telephone set and the second telecommunications endpoint is a personal computer.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the second telecommunications endpoint receives no voice packets originated by the calling endpoint during the call.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the first telecommunications endpoint is provided by a first software process and the second telecommunications endpoint is provided by a second software process, wherein the first software process and the second software process are executed by a personal computer.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the second message is formatted to invoke a predetermined application at the second telecommunications endpoint, wherein the predetermined application is designed to provide a screen popup for displaying at least a portion of the caller-provided data.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the first address is associated in the database with the second address, based on both the first address and the second address being provisioned to a same user.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein the caller-provided data are obtained through an interactive voice response system.
9. A method comprising:
receiving, at a server computer, a first message indicating a call to a first address that corresponds to a first telecommunications endpoint;
determining whether the first address is associated in a database with a second address that corresponds to a second telecommunications endpoint;
transmitting, based on the determining step, a second message to the second telecommunications endpoint, the second message being formatted to invoke a predetermined application at the second telecommunications endpoint;
receiving, from the second telecommunications endpoint, a third message comprising data that originate from the predetermined application; and
transferring a calling endpoint of the call to an interactive voice response system at a third address, in response to receiving the third message.
10. The method of claim 9 wherein the first and second telecommunications endpoints are physically distinct.
11. The method of claim 10 wherein the first telecommunications endpoint is a telephone set and the second telecommunications endpoint is a personal computer.
12. The method of claim 9 further comprising initializing the first telecommunications endpoint to be the recipient of voice packets that are originated by the calling endpoint of the call, wherein the second telecommunications endpoint receives no voice packets originated by the calling endpoint during the call.
13. The method of claim 9 wherein the first message provides the third address.
14. The method of claim 9 wherein the data that originate from the predetermined application comprises the third address.