Patent FR2494571A1 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
Patent EP0539105A2 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
EP0539105A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Automatic customer call back for automatic call distribution systems
Assignee: AT&T Inc
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Filing: 1992-10-16
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2012-10-16
Abstract
Abstract An automatic call distribution system wherein, when no agent is immediately available, and the calculated delay before an agent is likely to become available is above a predetermined threshold, a record is made of the calling number (either received as part of call set up or inputs from the caller), and the record is queued. When an agent becomes available, or after a predetermined time, the ACD removes the top entry from the queue, places a call to the received calling number, and presents the call to an available agent.
Inventors
- 👤 Konstantin Livanos
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 21:26
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04M; H04M3/00; H04M3/42; H04M3/50; H04M3/51; H04M3/523; H04M3/48; H04Q; H04Q11/00; H04Q11/04; H04Q11/0428; H04M2201/00; H04M2201/40; H04M2242/00; H04M2242/22; H04M3/22; H04M3/36; H04M3/42025; H04M3/42034; H04M3/42059; H04M3/5231; H04M3/5238; H04Q3/00; H04Q3/72
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 26
Claim 1
Independent Claim
103 words
A method for completing a call from a caller to one of a plurality of agents served by an automatic call distribution system, wherein the telephone number of the caller is received by said automatic call distribution system during call setup, said method comprising: determining whether any of said plurality of agents is available; upon determining that no agent is available, queuing said received telephone number of said caller and disconnecting said call; and when an agent becomes available, said automatic call distribution system placing a call to said caller using said received telephone number and connecting said caller to said available agent.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
103 words
A method for completing a call from a caller to one of a plurality of agents served by an automatic call distribution system, wherein the telephone number of the caller is received by said automatic call distribution system during call setup, said method comprising: determining whether any of said plurality of agents is available; upon determining that no agent is available, queuing said received telephone number of said caller and disconnecting said call; and when an agent becomes available, said automatic call distribution system placing a call to said caller using said received telephone number and connecting said caller to said available agent.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
43 words
A method in accordance with claim 1 further including the step of, after determining that no agent is available, prompting said caller whether to queue the call for subsequent call back, and queuing said call only if said caller agrees to be queued.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
37 words
A method in accordance with claim 2 further including the step of, before said step of prompting said caller, calculating an approximate delay before an agent will become available; and informing said caller of said approximate delay.
Claim 5
Independent Claim
98 words
A method for completing a call from a caller to one of a plurality of agents served by an automatic call distribution system comprising the steps of: receiving a customer call at said automatic call distribution system; said automatic call distribution system determining whether any of said plurality of agents is available; upon determining that no agent is available, prompting said customer for a telephone number; recording said telephone number; disconnecting said call and queuing the telephone number of said caller; and when an agent becomes available, placing a call to said caller using said queued telephone number.
Claim 6
Independent Claim
98 words
A method for completing a call from a caller to one of a plurality of agents served by an automatic call distribution system comprising the steps of: receiving a customer call at said automatic call distribution system; said automatic call distribution system determining whether any of said plurality of agents is available; upon determining that no agent is available, prompting said customer for a telephone number; recording said telephone number; disconnecting said call and queuing the telephone number of said caller; and when an agent becomes available, placing a call to said caller using said queued telephone number.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
43 words
A method in accordance with claim 4 further including the step of, after determining that no agent is available, prompting said caller whether to queue the call for subsequent call back, and queuing said call only if said caller agrees to be queued.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
38 words
A method in accordance with claim 5 further including the step of, before said step of prompting said caller, calculating an approximate time before an agent will become available; and informing said caller of said agent availability time.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
39 words
A method in accordance with claim 4 wherein said step of recording said telephone number comprises receiving dual tone multifrequency signals (DTMF), at said ACD, translating said DTMF signals into digits at a DTMF decoder, and recording said digits.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
39 words
A method in accordance with claim 4 wherein said step of recording said telephone number comprises receiving spoken words of digits at said ACD, translating said spoken words into digits at a voice recognition system, and recording said digits.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
180 words
A method for completing a call from a calling party from an integrated services digital network (ISDN) telephone station set to one of a plurality of agents served by an automatic call distribution (ACD) system, said ISDN telephone having a telephone number, said method comprising: connecting a call from said ISDN telephone to said ACD system; receiving said telephone number in said ACD system; determining whether any of said plurality of agents is available; upon determining that no agent is available, determining an expected delay time before an agent may become available; sending a disconnect message to said ISDN telephone including said delay time; said ISDN telephone sending a confirmation message back to said automatic call distribution system, including an indication of whether to queue said received telephone number for subsequent call back; if said indication is positive, queuing said received telephone of said ISDN telephone and disconnecting said call; and when an agent becomes available, said automatic call distribution system placing a call to said caller using said received telephone number and connecting said caller to said available agent.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
180 words
A method for completing a call from a calling party from an integrated services digital network (ISDN) telephone station set to one of a plurality of agents served by an automatic call distribution (ACD) system, said ISDN telephone having a telephone number, said method comprising: connecting a call from said ISDN telephone to said ACD system; receiving said telephone number in said ACD system; determining whether any of said plurality of agents is available; upon determining that no agent is available, determining an expected delay time before an agent may become available; sending a disconnect message to said ISDN telephone including said delay time; said ISDN telephone sending a confirmation message back to said automatic call distribution system, including an indication of whether to queue said received telephone number for subsequent call back; if said indication is positive, queuing said received telephone of said ISDN telephone and disconnecting said call; and when an agent becomes available, said automatic call distribution system placing a call to said caller using said received telephone number and connecting said caller to said available agent.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
43 words
A method according to claim 9 wherein said ISDN telephone is connected to a local switching system and said step of receiving said telephone number comprises receiving said telephone num- berfrom said local switching system as part of the setup of the call.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
46 words
Amethod according to claim 9 wherein said ISDN telephone is connected to a local switching system and said step of receiving said telephone number comprises said automatic call distribution system requesting said number from said local switching system and said local switching system delivering said number.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
21 words
A method according to claim 9 wherein said disconnect message is sent if said determined delay time exceeds a predetermined threshold.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
130 words
In a telephone network, said network comprising one or more local switching systems connected to said telephone network, each switching system being connected to a plurality of customer station sets, each of said station sets having a telephone number, an automatic call distribution system connected to said network and to a plurality of agent stations, said automatic call distribution system comprising: means for receiving telephone calls from said plurality of station sets; means for determining whether an agent station is available; means for receiving said telephone number from said network; means for queuing said received telephone number when no agent is available; means for placing a call through said network using said received telephone number when an agent becomes available; and means for connecting said call to said available agent.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
130 words
In a telephone network, said network comprising one or more local switching systems connected to said telephone network, each switching system being connected to a plurality of customer station sets, each of said station sets having a telephone number, an automatic call distribution system connected to said network and to a plurality of agent stations, said automatic call distribution system comprising: means for receiving telephone calls from said plurality of station sets; means for determining whether an agent station is available; means for receiving said telephone number from said network; means for queuing said received telephone number when no agent is available; means for placing a call through said network using said received telephone number when an agent becomes available; and means for connecting said call to said available agent.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
33 words
An automatic call distribution system according to claim 13 further comprising means for determining a delay time before an agent becomes available and means for communicating said delay time to said station set.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
24 words
An automatic call distribution system according to claim 13 further comprising means for receiving an indication whether a calling party agrees to be queued.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
26 words
An automatic call distribution system according to claim 13 further comprising means for receiving said telephone number from said network as part of a call setup.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
26 words
An automatic call distribution system according to claim 13 further comprising means for requesting said telephone number from said network after a call is set up.
Claim 22
Independent Claim
119 words
A method for completing a call from a caller to one of a plurality of agents served by an automatic call distribution system, wherein the telephone number of the caller is received by said automatic call distribution system, said method comprising: determining whether any of said plurality of agents is available; upon determining that no agent is available, and that an expected delay for an available agent exceeds a predetermined threshold, queuing said received telephone number of said caller and disconnecting said call; and at a subsequent time, said automatic call distribution system placing a call to said caller using said received telephone number and in response to receiving an answer, connecting said caller to a next available agent.
Claim 23
Independent Claim
119 words
A method for completing a call from a caller to one of a plurality of agents served by an automatic call distribution system, wherein the telephone number of the caller is received by said automatic call distribution system, said method comprising: determining whether any of said plurality of agents is available; upon determining that no agent is available, and that an expected delay for an available agent exceeds a predetermined threshold, queuing said received telephone number of said caller and disconnecting said call; and at a subsequent time, said automatic call distribution system placing a call to said caller using said received telephone number and in response to receiving an answer, connecting said caller to a next available agent.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
62 words
A method in accordance with claim 18 further including the step of, determining a delay time before said caller is to be called back; and after determining the delay time, delivering said delay time to said caller and prompting said caller whether to queue the call for subsequent call back, and queuing said call only if said caller agrees to be queued.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
41 words
A method in accordance with claim 18 further comprising, if an agent is not available after said call placed by said automatic distribution system is answered by said caller, queuing said call in a high priority queue for an available agent.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
26 words
A method in accordance with claim 20 further comprising. after queuing said call in said high priority queue, providing a message that said call is queued.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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