Siebel Systems, Inc.

Anil Kumar Annadata

Mingte Chen

Henry Dana Jay

Wai Pak

Kuang-Yang Huang

Mingtse Chen

Matthew Scott Malden

Rohit Bedi

Kuang Huang

Leon Chan

Thomas Michael Rothwein

Yu Jen Wu

Sanjeev Kumar

Karen Brodersen

Zhaoyang Sun

Shashidhar Gundu Rao

Rohir Bedi

A user interface display comprises a plurality of selectable icons and a control symbol in a toolbar. The control symbol can be selected by a user to display additional selectable icons within the toolbar. Incoming events, such as customer support requests or other work items, can be received from a communication server and displayed via a selectable icon or work button in the toolbar. The user interface can notify the user of the incoming event, such as by causing the work button to blink. The user can send a command to the communication server via the user interface relating to the event, such as accepting an incoming work item or releasing a telephone call. The communication server can perform the appropriate event response.

Apparatus and method for displaying selectable icons in a toolbar for a user interface

A method, system, computer system and computer program product determine that a communication connection has switched between an active state and an inactive state and cause a user interface for communicating via the connection to be updated asynchronously to correspond to the current state. For example, the user interface can indicate that the connection is active or inactive and allow or disallow initiation of communication via the connection accordingly. For example, consider a call center agent using a computer system as the user interface to the telephone channel, but the user does not click a 'hang up' button when the caller hangs up the telephone. The disconnection of the telephone is determined and the user interface is asynchronously updated, thereby allowing the agent to make another call. In one embodiment, a communication server determines the change in state and causes a web browser user interface to be updated asynchronously.

Synchronization of communication connection state with communication user interface

The present invention provides a user interface and method for communicating using multiple communication channels of different media types. The method includes obtaining an event communicated via an incoming communication channel, where the event corresponds to a work item available to an agent. A notification of the work item is provided via the user interface. The method includes receiving an activation of a work item object of the user interface, where the work item object is associated with the work item. The method includes issuing a command associated with the activation of the work item object to an outgoing communication channel. The user interface enables the agent to work using different communication channels while presenting a consistent interface independent of the media type of the communication channel.

User interface for multi-channel communication

A method and apparatus for inter-module communication is disclosed. The method includes defining a command definition, wherein the command definition comprises commands for interfacing with a multi-channel, multi-media, communication queuing system. The command definition can include, for example, driver object commands to request media type lists and command event lists, create drivers, request service, and release drivers. The command definition can also include, for example, service object commands to release service objects, notify when handling of an event is complete, invoke commands, release work items, suspend work items, resume work items, handle queued events, and cancel queued events. The command definition can also include, for example, client object commands to start a work item, release work items, save work item contexts, restore work item contexts, serialize work items, free work item storage, begin batch processing, and end batch processing.

Adaptive communication application programming interface

A method, system, computer system and computer program product to enable a single interface to be used to prepare and present messages in a variety of different formats. For example, the single interface can be used to prepare, receive or display messages in different languages, such as English or Japanese, which require different character sets. Furthermore, the single interface supports preparing, sending, and receiving messages in multiple text formats, such as plain text, rich text, and Multiple Internet Mail Extension (MIME) format. A message can be received in a native format, and a format for providing a response to the message can be dynamically selected. The response is provided in the dynamically-selected format.

Dynamic support of multiple message formats

A user interface display provides selectable icons and a control symbol in a toolbar. The control symbol can be selected by a user to display additional selectable icons within the toolbar. The additional icons can be inserted adjacent the control symbol or in another location on the toolbar. A user can associate a set of one or more selectable icons with a control symbol. In one implementation, reselecting the control symbol removes the additional icons from the toolbar. In another implementation, the additional icons are removed when one of the additional icons is selected. If the icons are positioned adjacent to their corresponding control symbol, the display position of other icons on the toolbar is adjusted to allow room for the additional icons. When a set of the additional icons is removed from the display, the position of the other icons on the toolbar is re-adjusted.

An apparatus and method for maintaining data for multi-channel communication queuing associated with different media formats such as telephone, email, and fax. A list of agent data includes information related to types of communication media an agent can access. The data can further include information related to an agent's skills, a list of media routes, statistics for communication channels of specified media types, statistics for an agent, and journals for work items. Priority values for the media routes, the maximum number of queued items for the media routes, and times for escalating a work item can also be included.

A method, system, computer system, and computer program product provide a context-sensitive user interface. The context in which the user interface operates is used to predict a media type of a communication channel that can be used for communicating via the user interface. Examples of media types include telephone, web chat, and web collaboration. The communication is facilitated according to the media type predicted. For example, an object of the user interface can be activated to enable communication according to the media type, or the user interface can initiate the communication via the communication channel. The user interface can be used for communicating with multiple communication channels of different media types. The context can include data presented by the user interface, data entered using the user interface, data selected using the user interface, and an action performed using the user interface.

User interface with context-based communication using media prediction

A method, user interface module, computer program product, computer system and system that enable a graphical user interface to be used by persons with visual disabilities. The graphical user interface includes a toolbar, which provides features that enable a visually disabled user to navigate and activate the functions provided by buttons or other controls on the communication toolbar. As a user navigates around the user interface, auditory messages are read describing functionality of different features of the graphical user interface. The text can be audibly read by, for example, a screen reader module. By using a hotkey or menu navigation, a user can issue commands that would normally be issued by clicking on the toolbar. Furthermore, the user can type text into text input boxes, select items from combo boxes, enable broadcast messages to be read, and choose to listen to status messages.

User interface for multi-media communication for the visually disabled

An apparatus and method that stores a status of a system immediately before an interruption of a power supply. A request for a status-storing process is outputted from an application to a check point manager in a module. A request for an execution of a snapshot output to components such as the application and a device driver is outputted to the manager. A sequence at this time is based on a sequence recorded in a status-storing database and represents a dependence relation between the components. When each component receives the request for the snapshot output, a function existing in a particular address for each component is read and the component status is outputted as a snapshot file through the manager to a non-volatile memory.

System and method for multi-channel communication queuing

System and method for maintaining real-time agent information for multi-channel communication queuing

One or more third party channel drivers interface with a centralized communication application server. An aggregate channel driver (ACD) is included in a channel driver to implement commands and command parameters that are supported by a particular core channel driver (CCD), but not by the communication server. The ACD can also implement events and event parameters that are supported by a particular communication server, but not by the CCD. A customer can thus include the ACD to extend and/or overwrite the functionality of a channel driver without rewriting or modifying the CCD.

Aggregate drivers for a configurable media-independent server

A system, apparatus, and method for routing work items to agents, wherein the work items can be of one of two or more different communication media types from one of two or more different communication channels. A queuing engine includes a list of routes and each route is associated with one or more properties. The list of routes can further include information related to one or more escalation rules for each route; the type of communication media available along the route for handling one or more of the work items; whether the route is active; the priority of the route; whether work items can be handled real-time; the service level for work items handled on the route; and the number of work items that can be assigned to the route. The queuing engine determines various properties required to handle each work item, such as the communication media type, agent language and skill level, and the category and recipient of the work item, and assigns each work item to one of the one or more agents based on one or more of the properties. When the queuing engine determines that a work item has been waiting a predetermined amount of time to be assigned to an agent, the queuing engine can escalate the search for an agent to handle the work item based on the escalation rules. The queuing engine can also substitute values for variables in the routing and escalation rules, thereby reducing the number of rules that must be entered to achieve the same routing capability.

System and method for multi-channel communication queuing using routing and escalation rules

A method and system to dynamically associate a workstation with a teleset. Data related to the call are transferred to the workstation during the call. Forming the dynamic association between the workstation and the teleset can include determining a hostname for the workstation, searching for the hostname in configuration data, and, if the hostname is found, dynamically associating the workstation with a teleset associated with the hostname. A server can be notified to transfer data associated with a call on the teleset to the workstation.

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Milpitas, CA, United States of America

Anil Kumar Annadata