EP0755144A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Prediction of a caller's motivation as a basis for selecting treatment of an incoming call
Assignee: AT&T Inc
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Filing: 1996-07-10
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2016-07-10
Abstract
Abstract An improved method and apparatus (12) for handling calls in a call center (FIG. 1) predicts (206, 312, 410) a caller's level of motivation for making the call and uses (208-212, 314-330, 412-416) the prediction as a basis for determining how to handle the call. The method and apparatus respond to a call coming in to the call center by determining (206, 306, 404) a number of call attempts -- either all call attempts whether answered or unanswered by an agent, or only unanswered call attempts -- made by the caller to the call center within a predetermined elapsed period of time, and possibly also by determining (308-310, 406) other predictors of the level of motivation of the caller in making the call, prior to the call being answered. Based upon the determined number of call attempts and the other predictors of the caller's motivation level, the method and apparatus then select and give (208-212, 314-330, 412-416) to the call one of a plurality of different treatments that could possibly be given to the call -- for example, they select a split to which the call should be queued and/or a priority level for queuing the call. Preferably, the selected treatment is given to the call before an agent of the call center answers the call.
Inventors
- 👤 Andrew Derek Flockhart
- 👤 Eugene Paul Mathews
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-05 06:48
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04M; H04M3/00; H04M3/42; H04M3/50; H04M3/51; H04M3/523; H04M3/22; H04M3/36; H04M2203/00; H04M2203/55; H04M2203/551
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 10
Claim 1
Independent Claim
93 words
A method of handling calls in a call center, CHARACTERISED BY the steps of: in response to a call from a caller coming in (200; 300; 400) to a call center, predicting (202-206; 302-312; 402-410) a level of motivation of the caller for making the call, prior to answering the call; selecting (208; 314, 316; 412-414) one of a plurality of different possible treatments to be given to the call, based upon the predicted level of motivation; and giving (208-214; 318, 324-328; 416-418) to the call the selected treatment at the call center.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
51 words
The method of claim 1 wherein: the step of predicting comprises the steps of determining (206) a number of call attempts made by the caller to the call center within a predetermined elapsed period of time, and predicting (208) the caller's level of motivation from the determined number of call attempts.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
179 words
The method of claim 1 wherein: the step of predicting comprises at least one of the steps of determining (304, 308) whether the call originated in a geographical area having a predetermined transitory characteristic, and predicting (312) the caller's level of motivation in part from whether or not the call originated in the geographical area having the predetermined transitory characteristic; determining (302, 310) whether the call originated from a predetermined type of telephone instrument, and predicting (312) the caller's level of motivation in part from whether or not the call originated from the predetermined type of telephone instrument; determining (406) whether the caller is a predetermined type of caller, and predicting (410) the caller's level of motivation in part from whether or not the caller is the predetermined type of caller; determining (204) which telephone number the caller called, and predicting (208) the caller's level of motivation in part from the determined telephone number; and determining (304) which telephone number the caller called from, and predicting (312) the caller's level of motivation in part from the determined telephone number.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
79 words
The method of claim 1 wherein: the step of selecting comprises the step of determining (408) an anticipated waiting time of the call in a call queue of the call center, and selecting (412) one of a plurality of priorities for queuing the call based upon both the predicted level of motivation and the determined anticipated waiting time; and the step of giving comprises the step of queuing (416) the call at the call center at the selected priority.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
34 words
The method of claim 1 wherein: the step of giving comprises the step of giving (212-214; 318, 320-328; 416-418) the call the selected treatment before an agent of the call center answers the call.
Claim 6
Independent Claim
103 words
An apparatus for handling calls in a call center, comprising: means (17, 18, 20) responsive to a call from a caller coming in to a call center, for predicting a level of motivation of the caller for making the call, prior to the call being answered at the call center; means connected to the predicting means, for selecting (17, 20) one of a plurality of different possible treatments to be given to the call, based upon the predicted level of motivation; and means connected to the selecting means, for giving (16, 17, 19) to the call the selected treatment at the call center.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
58 words
The apparatus of claim 6 wherein: the predicting means comprise means (17: 206) for determining a number of call attempts made by the caller to the call center within a predetermined elapsed period of time, and means connected to the determining means, for predicting (17: 208) the caller's level of motivation from the determined number of call attempts.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
199 words
The apparatus of claim 6 wherein: the predicting means comprise at least one of means for determining (17: 304, 308) whether the call originated in a geographical area having a predetermined transitory characteristic, for predicting (17: 312) the caller's level of motivation in part from whether or not the call originated in the geographical area having the predetermined transitory characteristic; means for determining (17: 302, 310) whether the call originated from a predetermined type of telephone instrument, and for predicting (17: 312) the caller's level of motivation in part from whether or not the call originated from the predetermined type of telephone instrument; means for determining (17: 406) whether the caller is a predetermined type of caller, and for predicting (17: 410) the caller's level of motivation in part from whether or not the caller is the predetermined type of caller; means for determining (17: 204) which telephone number the caller called, and for predicting (17: 208) the caller's level of motivation in part from the determined telephone number; and means for determining (17: 304) which telephone number the caller called from, and for predicting (17: 312) the caller's level of motivation in part from the determined telephone number.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
88 words
The apparatus of claim 6 wherein: the selecting means comprise means for determining (17: 408) an anticipated waiting time of the call in a call queue of the call center, and means connected to the means for determining the anticipated waiting time, for selecting (17: 412) one of a plurality of priorities for queuing the call, based upon both the predicted level of motivation and the determined anticipated waiting time; and the giving means comprise means for queuing (17: 416) the call at center at the selected priority.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
25 words
The apparatus of claim 6 wherein: the giving means give the call the selected treatment before an agent of the call center answers the call.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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