System and method for dialing in a telephony system using a common channel signaling protocol in which the use of bearer channels is maximized

Abstract

The system and method for dialing in a telephony system using a common channel signaling protocol, such as ISDN, maximizes the use of bearer or voice channels. The telephony system includes a dialing switch connected to a central office switch that supports the common channel signaling protocol. In one example, the connection is made using an ISDN primary rate interface (PRI) connection providing 23 bearer channels and one data channel. The dialing switch automatically dials to establish telephone connections between calling parties, such as agents in a call center, and called parties, such as existing or potential customers. The system also includes a telephony system control/manager that controls the dialing and manages telephony resources. The system determines predictive dialing factors, such as an anticipated connect ratio (ACR) of dialed numbers to connections with called parties, average talk time, a number of idle agents, and hold time. Based upon these predictive dialing factors, the system determines a number of telephone numbers to be dialed, which can exceed the number of bearer channels. Dialing commands are then transmitted over the data channel to dial the numbers, and the answered calls are connected over the available bearer channels to the calling parties. Predictive dialing is thus achieved with a number of bearer channels equal to the number of calling parties.