At+t Corp.

Srinivas Bala

Robert S Westrich

Shaoqing Q Wang

Mark Jeffrey Foladare

Shelley Betty Goldman

Roy Philip Weber

Kathleen C Fowler

David Phillip Silverman

Yihsiu Chen

Paging, cellular telephone or other messaging functionality is incorporated into a virtual contact center system to permit logged-off customer service representatives (CSRs) to be alerted to a need to logon to the system, and to permit CSRs to alert supervisors or specialists to logon to the system. Matching at a contact control server of existing conditions to predetermined criteria, e.g., failure to login at an assigned time, or specified network conditions (such as length of customer queues), triggers a command for a communication to one or more logged-off CSRs. Results of follow-up testing at the contact control server for matches causes page requests to be renewed, redirected or canceled. Unusual contact requirements or emerging network conditions requiring supervisory input or increased monitoring by traffic or subject matter specialists is likewise triggered by analysis at a contact control server or by CSR click selection of messages to be sent to a virtual contact center requesting issuance of information such as web pages to cognizant personnel.

Virtual contact center with flexible staffing control

A method and apparatus is disclosed for specifically routing a call based on the profile of the caller, the profile of the call center representative, and for updating the system based on experience to provide for more accurate call routing. The system accesses customer profile information and/or customer service representative information, and comparing the customer's need to the representative skill sets and job functions. It ranks the customer service representatives that can best meet the customer needs. The system then proceeds to route the incoming call to the service representative that is most likely to successfully meet the customer's needs. The system performs a post-call routine to determine how successfully it matched the customer with the appropriate call center representative.

Method and apparatus for intelligent routing of incoming calls to representatives in a call center

A virtual contact center system includes facilities for delivering voice authentication prompts upon callback to a CSR who has logged in via a computer link. More particularly, in an illustrative embodiment of the present invention a voice response unit (VRU) provides a voiced sequence of random characters to a CSR under the control of a contact control server. Upon receipt of the sequence, the CSR seeking authentication keys in the same or a related character sequence for delivery over the computer link to the contact control server. When the keyed sequence from the CSR is received at the contact control server in an expected form, the CSR is determined to be authentic. In appropriate cases, either or both of the voice prompt from the contact control center VRU or the keyed character sequence from the CSR may be encrypted to further raise the certainty of authentication.

Enhanced agent authentication in virtual contact center

Control of merchant application by system monitor in virtual contact center

A system and method for providing PBX-like functionality at a remote office location utilizes a remote office platform interposed between a data communications network and the conventional office PBX. A remotely located individual (such as a telecommuter) can &ldquo;log in&rdquo; to the remote office platform and, once the individual is authenticated, the platform can &ldquo;push&rdquo; a graphical user interface emulating a PBX station set to the remote employee's personal computer. As the individual activates the various PBX-like features (by &ldquo;clicking&rdquo; on a particular button on the screen) a command is returned to the remote office platform and ultimately communicated to the office PBX to affect the desired result (e.g., call transfer, hold, conference, etc.). Inbound traffic to the office PBX destined for the remote individual will be immediately forwarded by the PBX to the remote office platform to be communicated to that person's &ldquo;soft phone&rdquo; on the personal computer.

Method and system for providing enhanced call service features at remote locations

Accordingly to one embodiment of the present invention, a method for providing caller initiated third party billing in a telecommunication system is disclosed. First, a predetermined number is dialed by the subscriber to access the third party billing feature. The subscriber is then prompted to enter proper identification and the telecommunication system authenticates the subscriber identification. Once the subscriber's identification has been authenticated, the system retrieves the subscriber's account information. The system then determines the phone number of the selected telephone the subscriber wants to make calls from. The system then sends the subscriber's account information and the phone number the subscriber wants to make the calls from to a billing server. The billing server then sends the subscriber's account information to a local exchange carrier responsible for the selected telephone. The calls made from the selected telephone are then billed to the subscriber's account.

Subscriber-initiated automated third party billing feature

In a personal reach telephone service in which a calling party's telephone call to a personal reach telephone number of a called party/subscriber is bridged to a return call placed by the called party/subscriber in response to a page which indicates to the called party/subscriber the presence of a waiting call, a connection is established between a bridging and signaling unit associated with the interexchange network to which the calling party is directed, and the home PBX associated with the called party/subscriber. After establishing the connection between the bridging and signaling unit and the home PBX, a determination is made, using two-way paging technology, whether the pager associated with the called party/subscriber is registered within the local area covered by the home PBX. If the pager is registered in the local area, then the calling party's call is connected directly to the PBX and a local page is broadcast to the called party/subscriber. If the called party/subscriber responds to the local page by means of a return telephone call to the PBX, then the calling party's call and the called party/subscriber's return call are bridged together by the local PBX and the bridging and signaling equipment associated with the interexchange network is disconnected. If the pager associated with the called party/subscriber is not registered in the local area, then a nationwide page is broadcast and a return call to the bridging and signaling equipment associated with the network is bridged to the calling party's call.

Growing community of inventors

Dayton, NJ, United States of America

Srinivas Bala