Abstract:
A method for transfer of incoming calls received by an attendant comprising the steps of obtaining the caller identification of the incoming call, initiating a search on a database using the caller identification, retrieving a list of previous call transfer destinations from the database corresponding to the caller identification, displaying the list on an attendant console contemporaneous with the incoming call, and selecting a desired transfer destination from the list on the console thereby transferring the incoming call to the desired transfer destination.

Description:
This application claims priority from British Application No. 9811293.1 filed on May 26, 1998. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates in general to the field of telephony and in particular provides a method and system for intelligent call transfer of incoming calls. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     A typical organization is characterized by having a number of individuals, which may be grouped by functional area or department, each accessible by telephone. Typically, each person has their own telephone connected to a private branch exchange (PBX) operated by the organization, and has their own extension number, which is accessible through a main organizational switchboard. An outside person who desires to contact a person within the organization calls a common central organizational telephone number and request the attendant, sitting at a switchboard or console, to transfer the call to the desired person. This is a difficult task, for it requires the attendant to know the names and associated extension numbers of every person in the organization. For large organizations, the caller must wait while the attendant looks up and locates the called person&#39;s name in a directory before transferring the call. In addition, where the caller does not know the surname, or the spelling of the last name, significant time and effort can be spent, while the caller waits, before the correct callee is identified. 
     In the field of telephony, telephone companies who provide standard telephone service to individuals and organizations offer a service where the identity of the caller is communicated to the callee at the time of placement of the call. Thus, by the time the phone starts to ring, the callee can ascertain the identity of the caller. 
     There are also known in the art various application programming interfaces (APIs), such as the TAPI specification for the Microsoft® Window™ environment, which facilitate the provision of telephony related services by a personal computer. As such, computer applications can be notified about calls, answer calls, hold calls and perform other call and switch related functions as if the application is the end-point of the call. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention provides a system and method to speed up call transfer activity performed by an attendant. It takes advantage of the fact that most callers repeatedly call the same person or subset of people at an organization. Using the caller identification information provided by the telephone company, a database is created which stores information on each incoming call and maintains a record or log of the transfer destination. When a later call arrives from the same caller, the attendant is presented on the graphical interface console a list of previous transfer destinations which are likely destinations for the current call. The attendant can then transfer the call to one of the destinations presented on the list by merely selecting the desired item on the list, which signals the telephone exchange, transferring the call to the desired destination. This provides a simple, efficient means to transfer the call, without requiring the attendant to do a directory search for the name or identity of the proposed call destination. Additional information can also be provided on the console such as the status of the person being called, and call destination alternatives should the person being call not be available. This reduces the number of calls transferred to unreceptive destinations, and increased the likelihood of quick, successful call connection to a useful destination for the caller. The invention could also be employed in automated attendant environments where upon answering the incoming call, the automated attendant presents the list of previous destinations called to the caller early during the call, obviating the frustrating need of a caller to navigate time consuming multi-menu messaging systems to connect to a frequently called destination. Therefore, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for transfer of incoming calls received by an attendant comprising the steps of: 
     (a) obtaining the caller identification of the incoming call; 
     (b) initiating a search on a database using the caller identification; 
     (c) retrieving a list of previous call transfer destinations from the database corresponding to the caller identification; 
     (d) displaying the list on an attendant console contemporaneous with the incoming call; 
     (e) selecting a desired transfer destination from the list on the console thereby transferring the incoming call to the desired transfer destination. Also, according to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for transfer of incoming calls received by an automated attendant comprising the steps of: 
     (a) obtaining the caller identification of the incoming call; 
     (b) initiating a search on a database using the caller identification; 
     (c) retrieving a list of previous call transfer destinations from the database corresponding to the caller identification; 
     (d) presenting the list to the caller of the incoming call; 
     (e) selecting a desired transfer destination from the list presented to the caller thereby transferring the incoming call to the desired transfer destination. According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a system for transfer of incoming calls received by an attendant, the system comprising: 
     (a) means for switching the incoming call; 
     (b) caller identification means for obtaining the caller identification of said incoming call; 
     (c) database means containing previous call transfer destination information; 
     (d) console means coupled to said switching means and caller identification means and said database, having: 
     (i) means for handling the audio aspect of said incoming call; 
     (ii) means for searching and retrieving from said database a list of said previous call transfer destination information corresponding to said caller identification; 
     (iii) means for displaying said list contemporaneous with said incoming call; 
     (iv) means for selecting a desired transfer destination from said list to switch said incoming call to said desired transfer destination. 
     According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for transfer of incoming calls received by an automated attendant, the system comprising: 
     (a) means for switching the incoming call; 
     (b) caller identification means for obtaining the caller identification of said incoming call; 
     (c) database means containing previous call transfer destination information; 
     (d) automated attendant means coupled to said switching means and caller identification means and said database, having: 
     (i) means for searching and retrieving from said database a list of said previous call transfer destination information corresponding to said caller identification; 
     (ii) means for presenting said list to an incoming caller upon answering said incoming call; 
     (iii) means for receiving a selection of a desired transfer destination from said list to switch said incoming call to said desired transfer destination. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     A detailed description of the preferred embodiments is provided herein below, with reference to the following drawings in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a block diagram overview of a call transfer utilizing the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the message flow between the console and call control server of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Turning to FIG. 1, there is provided an example of an incoming call transfer according to the present invention where a caller placing the call wishes to contact a person at an organization by calling a centralized number. The caller, using originating terminal  10  places a regular telephone call through the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)  12  operated by the telephone company. The PSTN, through central office switches, routes the call to the destination organization&#39;s telecom equipment, typically a PBX  14 . The PBX  14  may be optionally connected to local area network  22 . The PBX  14  also receives the caller&#39;s identification (Call ID), usually the calling telephone number, using the Calling Line ID (CLID) feature or Automatic Number Identification (ANI) feature supplied by the central office of the PSTN  12  and can optionally receive other information related to the call supplied by the central office. The PBX  14  then presents the call and caller information to the attendant at the attendant&#39;s console  16 . In one embodiment, the console  16  is a composite device, having a standard audio interface, such as a dialing/button pad interface and handset  17 , or headset or speaker/microphone set for a human attendant typically connected to the PBX  14 , and a processor component with access to either an external or internal database of call information stored in a disk or random access memory and visual user interface  18  capable of display of information from a database  20 . The dialing/button pad interface may optionally be incorporated in the visual user interface  18  or the entire console  16  may be combined into a unitary device. In the preferred embodiment, the console  16  has a telephone handset  17  and an accompanying personal computer  19 , running an operating system with a graphical user interface such as Windows95™ and storing call information in database  20  in local disk memory. The console  16  is optionally connected to a local area network  22 . The database  20  stores the Call ID of previous incoming calls as well as the associated transfer destinations for each of those incoming calls, typically the extension number of the person to whom the call was transferred. The database  20  may optionally store the date and time of the incoming call, the frequency of calls to a number, the current status of each person at each extension, and other like relevant information about the caller and the destination extensions. 
     In an alternate embodiment, the PBX  14  is typically connected to a telephony server  24 , which is also connected to local area network  22 . In this alternate embodiment, the PBX  14  presents the incoming call from PSTN  12  to telephony server  24  which then sends the call and caller information to the attendant at the attendant&#39;s console  16 . 
     The caller information provided to the console  16  consists of the Call ID and optionally the caller&#39;s name. The console, upon receiving the Call ID, initiates a search on the database  20  using the Call ID to retrieve a list of previous transfer destinations of this caller. The results of the search, which can include the caller&#39;s name and number, and the name and extension numbers of the previous transfer destinations, are then displayed on the visual user interface  18  of the console  16 . Since most callers to an organization typically call the same person or small group of people at the organization, it is likely that the desired transfer destination is on this list. The call is then answered by the attendant at console  16  and the caller then indicates to the attendant the desired transfer destination. If the transfer destination is matched on the list of user interface  18 , then the attendant, using a suitable pointing device such as a mouse with arrow pointer  26 , selects the desired transfer destination from user interface  18  and the console  16  preferably stores or logs the chosen transfer destination in database  20  and signals the PBX  14  to transfer the call to transfer destination terminal  28 . In this manner, the transfer is completed in a single step by selection of the appropriate choice from the list by the attendant obviating the need of the attendant to resort to a directory search. In the event that a caller wishes to be transferred to a person not on the transfer list of user interface  18 , then the attendant must use traditional means to transfer the call, which would be logged in the database  20 . 
     In an alternate embodiment, when the attendant selects the desired transfer destination, the console  16  sends the message to the telephony server  24  through local area network  22  to transfer the call. The telephony server  24  then sends the message to PBX  14  to transfer the call to transfer destination terminal  28 . 
     With respect to the transfer list displayed on user interface  26 , the list may be sorted alphabetically, by date, by frequency (ie. the person most often called is placed first) or any other useful manner. 
     Optionally, the transfer list may show as a separate attribute, the current status of the person at the desired transfer destination to whom the caller wishes to be transferred. For example, if the line of the person at the desired transfer destination is busy, a “busy” attribute could be displayed on user interface  18 . Likewise, if the person at the desired transfer destination is out of the office, or requests not to be disturbed, such information could be presented on the user interface  18  of console  16 . Such status information could be provided to the console  18  by the PBX  14 , or entered into the database  20  by the attendant or others using standard networked database access programs. Further, in cases where the transfer destination is unavailable, the transfer list could also display alternate destinations for the caller, such as a backup person, secretary, cell phone number or home phone number of a person out of the office. The attendant could then inform the caller of the desired transfer destination status and take the appropriate action on the caller&#39;s instructions without requiring the caller to be transferred to an undesired or unreceptive destination. In this way, useful information is provided in an efficient and effective manner to the caller, increasing the likelihood that a caller will be transferred to a useful destination. 
     Turning to FIG. 2, the message flow between console components and the call control server is further illustrated. In the preferred embodiment, the console  18  of FIG. 1 can be implemented by console application  202  and graphical user interface  204 . Preferably, the console application  202  is a program, written in an appropriate computer language, which displays information on graphical user interface  204 , requests searches and sorts search results from database  206 , and sends and receives messages from call control server  208 . Call control server  208  is typically a PBX or a telephony server as described with respect to FIG.  1 . Console application  202  communicates with call control server  208  using any appropriate well known telephony Application Program Interface (API) such as TSAPI, JTAPI or TAPI by Microsoft™. 
     When an incoming call is received by call control server  208 , it passes a new call event message  210  to console application  202 . Console application  202  then sends a get call info message  212  to call control server  208  to obtain the caller id and optionally any related information such as caller name, trunk id, etc. Console application then initiates a database search request  214  using the caller id, on database  206 . The database  206  may be local to the console, or distributed across a local or wide area network. The database search request  214  could be implemented using any well known database protocol such as Open Database Connect (ODBC) on a suitable database. The database  206  would return the search results  216  of the previous call transfers of the caller id, and any optional information such as destination status, date of call, etc. The console  202  then sorts the database results. The sorted results and the new call are then sent as a transfer list message  218  to the user interface  204  for display. At the same time, the call is presented and answered by the attendant. When the attendant ascertains from the caller the desired destination, the attendant selects the appropriate transfer destination from the list on the user interface  204 , and the selection is communicated to the console application  202  in transfer number selection message  220 . Console application  202  then logs and records the selection by sending an add record message  222  to the database  206  storing the Call id, transfer destination, date, time and other desired log information. Console application then sends an execute transfer message  224  to call control server  208  to transfer the call to the appropriate destination. 
     In an alternate embodiment, the smart transfer mechanism of the present invention could be implemented in an automated attendant. The automated attendant is implemented in conjunction with the console application  202  of FIG. 2, and would obtain and sort the database search results in the same manner as described above. As an alternative, the automated attendant and console functions could be entirely implemented in the telephony server  24  with the telephony server  24  connected to the PBX  14  and to the database  20 . The automated attendant would sort the search results using an appropriate metric, such as most frequently called, or most recently called, and play a message reading out the names of the most recently called people. For example, where the search results are sorted in order of most recently called, and the two most recently called people are Tom Smith and Jack Jones, an automated attendant, when answering a call could say “Welcome to company XYZ. To contact Tom Smith, press 1, to contact Jack Jones, press 2, for and operator, press 0.” When the caller presses the appropriate number, the automated attendant would then transfer the call in a similar manner as described above. In this way, a frequent caller would not be required to navigate lengthy and tedious automated phone answering systems to connect to the desired person. 
     Although the invention has been described in terms of the preferred and several alternate embodiments described herein, those skilled in the art will appreciate other embodiments and modifications which can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the teachings of the invention. All such modifications are intended to be included with the scope of the claims appended hereto.