System and method for handling repetitive calls at call center

A call center answers calls from callers reporting incidents and dispatch responders in response thereto. A computing system at the call center receives a particular call from a caller regarding a particular incident, and determines whether the particular call is an original call that is reporting the particular incident for a first time to the call center, or is a repetitive call that is reporting the particular incident after the original call for the particular incident has already been received by the call center. If an original call, the computing system forwards the particular call to an agent at the call center for further attention. However, if a repetitive call, the computing system diverts the particular call from the agent at the call center. Accordingly, the resources of the call center may be concentrated on original calls and away from repetitive calls.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to answering calls at a call center such as an emergency call center. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to handling repetitive calls at such call center, where the repetitive calls all likely relate to a single incident. Specifically, the present disclosure relates to a system and method that automatically interrogates each incoming call to identify whether the call likely relates to an already-identified incident, and that initially handles each incoming call in a predetermined automated manner if the incoming call has been identified as likely relating to an already-identified incident. Accordingly, the agents at the call center are not overly burdened by having to personally handle every incoming call related to the incident.

BACKGROUND

In many geographic areas, including municipalities, regional governmental areas, private oversight zones, and the like, emergency call centers are provided for quickly responding to incidents of an emergency nature and the like. Thus, it may be that a city or county maintains and operates such an emergency call center for the residents and visitors thereof who may come upon or be involved in an incident and wish to report such incident so that an appropriate response may be made by or on behalf of the call center.

Typically, in the United States, such a call center may be known as a ‘911 call center’, for the reason that ‘911’ has been established as an all-purpose emergency telephone calling number, or the like, and for the reason that calls to ‘911’ initiated from within a predetermined geographic area are typically automatically routed to the 911 call center for such area. Presumptively, an individual initiating a 911 call that is to be routed to a local 911 call center is wishing to perform a public service by reporting an incident of an emergency nature so that the emergency incident can be responded to in an appropriate manner. Accordingly, it may be that the call-initiating individual is reporting to the call center an incident where he has witnessed smoke or fire, in which case the call center may respond to the incident by summoning a local fire department to investigate and handle the incident. Likewise, it may be that the call-initiating individual is reporting to the call center an incident where she was involved in an automobile accident, in which case the call center may respond to the incident by summoning a local police department, a paramedic squad, and an ambulance to investigate and handle the incident.

In at least some instances, an individual initiating a call to a call center to report an incident is indeed the only caller reporting the incident to the call center. Thus, a man calling to report a gas leak may be the only person aware of the gas leak and the only person calling to report same. In at least some other instances, an individual initiating a call to a call center to report an incident is one of several callers reporting the incident to the call center. Thus, a woman calling to report a neighbor's house on fire may be one of several people aware of the house fire and the third person calling to report same.

When only one person calls to report an incident, the call center receiving the call presumptively handles same in a relatively straightforward manner. For example, it may be that a live agent at the call center collects appropriate information regarding the incident, creates an incident report or the like corresponding to the incident, and dispatches an appropriate emergency response corresponding to the incident and the report thereof. Notably, the collected information regarding the incident may include an identification of the nature of the incident and the location of the incident, among other things.

Also notably, it may be that the call center itself automatically collects appropriate information regarding the incident, where such automatically collected information may be presented to the agent handling the received call and/or may be employed to direct the emergency response, among other things. For example, the automatically collected information may include a preliminary identification of the person calling to report the incident and an identification of a telephone number or the like of the person, based on the telephone or the like employed for the call. Perhaps more importantly, the automatically collected information may also include a geographic location of the person calling to report the incident, again based on the telephone or the like employed for the call. As may be appreciated, such geographic location may be among other things a predetermined address if the telephone is a landline telephone at such predetermined address, or may be a set of spatial coordinates if the telephone is a mobile telephone. In the latter case, and as is known, the spatial coordinates may be GPS (Global Positioning System) coordinates or the like as obtained directly from the telephone, or may be such coordinates or the like as obtained indirectly, perhaps by cell phone tower triangulation techniques, among other things.

When more than one person calls to report the same incident, the call center receiving the ‘repetitive’ calls presumptively handles each of the repetitive calls in a similar manner. Notably, it is to be appreciated that the call center receiving and handling all of the repetitive calls must dedicate resources that are essentially duplicative and therefore wasteful. In particular, multiple agents at the call center handling the repetitive calls are diverted from answering other calls regarding other incidents, and multiple call lines of the call center are tied up and unavailable, among other things. Also, in a stressful environment such as may be expected at a call center, it might be natural for a single agent at the call center handling multiple ones of the repetitive calls to be emotionally worn by same, especially if the corresponding incident is of a particularly horrific or gruesome nature.

In the instance where the number of repetitive calls corresponding to a particular incident is relatively low, say on the order of 2-5, the repetitive calls may be considered to be merely annoying, and perhaps an unavoidable aspect of the operation of a call center, but not overly burdensome, generally speaking. However, in the instance where the number of repetitive calls corresponding to a particular incident is relatively high, say on the order of 20-50 or even more, the repetitive calls may be considered to be a much more serious matter.

As but one example, consider an incident where multiple vehicles are involved in a crash on an urban highway. In such crash incident, it is likely that the occupants in the vehicles will call on mobile telephones to report same to a corresponding call center, if they are able to do so. Notably, and moreover, it is also likely that occupants of many vehicles on the highway passing the incident will call on mobile telephones to report the incident to the call center. Further, it is likely that many nearby pedestrians if present will call on mobile telephones to report the incident to the call center, and that people in nearby houses and other buildings will do same by way of mobile and landline telephones. As should be appreciated, most anybody nearby could be expected to call to report the incident, including pilots flying overhead, passengers on passing trains and buses, drivers on intersecting roadways, and the like. Additionally, people farther away might call too, if for example the incident produced smoke, or if a person heard from someone else about the crash and wanted to report same.

Quite simply, it is not unreasonable to expect the call center to be inundated with repetitive calls, all relating to the aforementioned crash incident, perhaps on the order of 500-1000 or even more if the crash incident is relatively severe and highly visible. It is also not unreasonable to expect the inundation at the call center to last for an hour or more. Anecdotally, it has been found that such inundations of repetitive calls from a single incident happen at call centers on a regular basis. Moreover, it has also been anecdotally found that the possibility of such inundations has required such call centers to increase staffing and line capacity to handle such inundations, all at great cost and expenditure of resources.

Accordingly, a need exists for a system and method for handling repetitive calls relating to a single incident at a call center. In particular, a need exists for such a system and method where an incident is identified from a call to the call center, and where further calls to the call center are identified as being potentially related to the identified incident. Further, a need exists for such a system and method where the potentially related calls are at least initially automatically handled to determine whether such potentially related calls are in fact repetitive calls and if so are diverted from agents at the call center.

SUMMARY

The aforementioned needs are satisfied by a method performed by a computing system of a call center established to answer calls from callers reporting incidents and dispatch responders in response thereto. The computing system receives a particular call from a caller regarding a particular incident, and determines whether the particular call is an original call that is reporting the particular incident for a first time to the call center, or is a repetitive call that is reporting the particular incident after the original call for the particular incident has already been received by the call center. If the particular call is an original call, the computing system forwards the particular call to an agent at the call center for further attention. However, if the particular call is a repetitive call, the computing system diverts the particular call from the agent at the call center. Accordingly, the resources of the call center may be concentrated on original calls and away from repetitive calls.

In the course of determining whether the particular call is an original call or a repetitive call, an automated processing system may be employed to communicate with the caller. If the caller is calling from a landline or mobile telephone, the automated processing system may provide voice prompts and collect voice or keypad responses. If the caller is calling by way of a textual-based system such as a text messaging service or an email service or the like, the automated processing system may provide text-based prompts and collect appropriate text-based responses. Presumptively, once the computing system with such automated processing system determines that the particular call is an original call, the particular call escapes out to an agent for further handling. Note that with an automated processing system, the caller provide details in a free-form manner, via voice message, text message, email message, or the like, and the details can be reviewed at an appropriate time if need be.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Certain terminology may be used in the following description for convenience only and is not limiting. The words “lower” and “upper” and “top” and “bottom” designate directions in the drawings to which reference is made. The terminology includes the words above specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof and words of similar import.

Where a term is provided in the singular, the inventors also contemplate aspects of the invention described by the plural of that term. As used in this specification and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, e.g., “a tip” includes a plurality of tips. Thus, for example, a reference to “a method” includes one or more methods, and/or steps of the type described herein and/or which will become apparent to those persons skilled in the art upon reading this disclosure.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Although any methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the present invention, the preferred methods, constructs and materials are now described. All publications mentioned herein are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Where there are discrepancies in terms and definitions used in references that are incorporated by reference, the terms used in this application shall have the definitions given herein.

Example Computing Environment

FIG. 1is set forth herein as an exemplary computing environment in which various embodiments of the present invention may be implemented. The computing system environment is only one example of a suitable computing environment and is not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use or functionality. Numerous other general purpose or special purpose computing system environments or configurations may be used. Examples of well-known computing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may be suitable for use include, but are not limited to, personal data devices such as ‘smart’ mobile telephones, personal computers (PCs), server computers, handheld or laptop devices, multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based systems, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, embedded systems, distributed computing environments that include any of the above systems or devices, and the like.

With reference toFIG. 1, an exemplary system for implementing aspects described herein includes a computing device, such as computing device100. In its most basic configuration, computing device100typically includes at least one processing unit102and memory104. Depending on the exact configuration and type of computing device, memory104may be volatile (such as random access memory (RAM)), non-volatile (such as read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, etc.), or some combination of the two. This most basic configuration is illustrated inFIG. 1by dashed line106. Computing device100may have additional features and functionality. For example, computing device100may include additional storage (removable and/or non-removable) including, but not limited to, magnetic or optical disks or tape. Such additional storage is illustrated inFIG. 1by removable storage108and non-removable storage110, and can encompass cloud-based storage if deemed necessary and/or advisable.

Computing device100may also contain communications connection(s)112that allow the device to communicate with other devices100. Each such communications connection112is an example of communication media. Communication media typically embodies computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and includes any information delivery media. The term “modulated data signal” means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media includes wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection (including VoIP), and wireless media such as a Wi-Fi or cellular data network or the like, acoustic, radio frequency (RF), infrared and other wireless media. The term computer-readable media as used herein includes both storage media and communication media.

Computing device100may also have input device(s)114such as keyboard, mouse, pen, audio input device, voice input device, touch input device, etc. Output device(s)116such as a display, speakers, printer, etc. may also be included. All these devices are generally known to the relevant public and therefore need not be discussed in any detail herein except as provided.

Notably, computing device100may be one of a plurality of computing devices100inter-connected by a network118, as is shown inFIG. 1. As may be appreciated, the network118may be any appropriate network, each computing device100may be connected thereto by way of a connection112in any appropriate manner, and each computing device100may communicate with one or more of the other computing devices100in the network118in any appropriate manner. For example, the network118may be a wired or wireless network within an organization or home or the like, and may include a direct or indirect coupling to an external network such as a Wi-Fi or cellular data network or the like, the Internet or the like. Likewise, the network118may be such an external network.

Particularly in the case where the network118is an external network, such network118may be a digitally based network (including VoIP) for exchanging computer data among the devices100, may be an audio and/or video network for exchanging audio and/or video data among the devices100, or the like. Thus, it may be that the network118may be a public switched telephone network for landline telephone communications, a mobile switching center for wireless telephone communications, a paging network for distributing paging information, a private multimedia network for establishing videoconferencing, or the like. Thus, it should be appreciated, that one or more of the computing devices100that are shown to the left of the network118inFIG. 1may be a mobile telephone, a landline telephone, a pager, a mobile electronic mail device, a desktop electronic mail device, a mobile electronic texting device, a desktop electronic texting device, or a combination thereof, or the like, with appropriate hardware and software instantiated thereon.

In the case of program code execution on programmable computers, the computing device generally includes a processor, a storage medium readable by the processor (including volatile and non-volatile memory and/or storage elements), at least one input device, and at least one output device. One or more programs may implement or utilize the processes described in connection with the presently disclosed subject matter, e.g., through the use of an application-program interface (API), reusable controls, or the like. Such programs may be implemented in a high-level procedural or object-oriented programming language to communicate with a computer system. However, the program(s) can be implemented in assembly or machine language, if desired. In any case, the language may be a compiled or interpreted language, and combined with hardware implementations.

Call Center

Turning now toFIGS. 2 and 3, it is seen that a call center10such as a 911 call center is provided in accordance with various embodiments of the present innovation. Typically, although by no means necessarily, the call center10is established to answer calls within a predetermined geographic region from callers12who are calling to report incidents16of an emergency nature, among other things. The geographic region serviced by the call center10may be most any geographic region without departing from the spirit and scope of the present innovation. For example, the geographic region may encompass an area such as a municipality or multiple ones thereof, a county or multiple ones thereof, a state or multiple ones thereof, or any other defined geographic zone. As should be appreciated, the call center10may be provided as a public or private service to quickly respond to the aforementioned incidents16of an emergency nature and the like so that residents and visitors who come upon or are involved in an incident16may as callers12report such incident. Upon receiving such report of such incident16, and as is to be understood, the call center10may then summon an appropriate responder14to effectuate an appropriate response. Thus, such call center10may answer all types of calls and dispatch same to all types of responders14, or such call center10may answer only certain types of calls and dispatch same to only certain types of responders14. For example, the call center10may provide access to all responders14, or to just police, in which case the call center10may be associated with a police station or the like.

Typically, the caller12is calling the call center10by way of a calling device such as a landline or mobile telephone or the like, although it is to be appreciated that such caller12may also be calling by way of other means, such as for example by way of a texting service, an email service, a radio service, and the like. As known, the caller12may call the call center12by way of a predetermined emergency identifier, such as the ‘911’ telephone number in the United States, or the like, although the caller12may also employ any other appropriate identifier without departing from the spirit and scope of the present innovation. As was pointed out above, the ‘911’ identifier is known as an all-purpose emergency telephone calling number in which any call from a caller12to ‘911’ initiated from within a predetermined geographic area is automatically routed to the 911 call center for such area.

The incident16being reported a particular caller12may be most any incident16without departing from the spirit and scope of the present innovation, although presumptively the incident16should truly be of an emergency nature. Thus, it may be that the caller12is reporting smoke or fire, in which case the call center10may respond by summoning a responder14such as a local fire department, or is reporting a crime in progress, in which case the call center may respond by summoning a responder14such as a local police department, among other things. Generally, the typical operation of a call center10responding to a call thereto from a caller12by summoning an appropriate responder14is known or should be apparent to the relevant public and therefore need not be set forth herein in any detail other than that which is provided.

For purposes of the present innovation, a call from a caller12to a call center10to report a particular incident16may be classified as an original call that is reporting the particular incident16for the first time to the call center10, or as a repetitive call that is reporting the particular incident16after the original call for the particular incident has already been received by the call center10. Thus, a call from a first caller12calling to report the particular incident16is an original call, while all calls from subsequent callers12calling to report the particular incident16are repetitive calls.

As was pointed out above, if a caller12reporting an incident16is indeed the only caller12reporting same to the call center10, or if the caller12reporting the incident16is the first of multiple callers12reporting same to the call center10, such call center10handles what should be understood to be an original call in a relatively straightforward manner. Typically, and as should be appreciated, a live agent22or perhaps an automated agent22at the call center10collects appropriate information regarding the incident16, creates an incident report or the like corresponding to the incident16, and dispatches an appropriate emergency responder14corresponding to the incident16and the report thereof. Notably, the collected information regarding the incident16may include an identifier for the incident16, a time associated with the call for the incident16, an identification of the type or nature of the incident16, and the location of the incident16, among other things. Note here that the location of the incident16may comprise the location of the caller12, perhaps as automatically determined from the calling device thereof, and/or the location of the incident16itself, perhaps as orally collected from the caller12. Also typically, such collected information for the incident16is appropriately stored as a record18or the like in a database20or the like at or accessible to the call center10. Such record18and database20for the incident16are generally known or should be apparent to the relevant public and therefore need not be set forth herein in any detail other than that which is provided. As should be understood, the collected information as stored in the database20may be employed for a variety of purposes, such as for example generating statistics regarding the call center10, auditing the performance of the call center10, and otherwise referring back to one or more of the incidents16as may be necessary and/or desirable.

As was alluded to above, collecting such information regarding an incident16may be performed by way of the agent22at the call center and/or by way of appropriate automated technology. Notably, in addition to information collected by an agent22, or in the alternative, it may be that the call center10itself automatically collects certain information regarding the incident16, where such automatically collected information may be presented to the agent22handling the call and/or may be employed to direct the emergency response, among other things. Automatically collecting information in the manner performed with regard to the call center10may be performed in any appropriate manner without departing from the spirit and scope of the present innovation. Such automatic collection of such information at the call center10is known or should be apparent to the relevant public and therefore need not be set forth herein in any detail other than that which is provided.

As may be appreciated, the automatically collected information may include a preliminary identification of the caller12reporting the incident and an identification of a telephone number or other identifier of the caller12, based on the calling device employed by the caller12for the call. Perhaps more importantly, the automatically collected information may also include a geographic location of the caller12, again based on the calling device employed for the call. As may be appreciated, such geographic location may be among other things a predetermined address if the calling device is for example a landline telephone at such predetermined address, or may be a set of spatial coordinates (GPS coordinates, for example) if the calling device is for example a mobile telephone. In the latter case, and as is known, the spatial coordinates are typically obtainable directly from the calling device, or indirectly, perhaps by cell phone tower triangulation techniques, among other things. As should also be appreciated, the automatically collected information may include any other appropriate information without departing from the spirit and scope of the present innovation.

Particularly with regard toFIG. 3, it is seen with regard to various embodiments of the present innovation that the call center10includes or employs a computing system24effectuating the interaction among the agents22, the database20, the callers12, and the responders14, among other things. Typically, although by no means necessarily, the computing system16is in the nature of the computing device100on the top part ofFIG. 1with appropriate hardware and software instantiated thereon, each agent22employs an individual computing device100tailored to the needs thereof, and the database20is instantiated on another computing device100also tailored to the needs thereof, where all computing devices100are appropriately communicatively coupled. Here, it is to be appreciated that the computing system24may among other things include incoming connections for receiving calls from the callers12and outgoing connections for sending requests to responders14. As may be appreciated, the calls may be in the nature of voice calls or data calls such as electronic mail messages, text messages, or other data messages, and likewise the connections may be in the nature of voice, data, or other electronic connections. In at least some circumstances, the incoming and outgoing connections may be one and the same.

Handling Repetitive Calls

When more than one caller12calls to report the same incident16, it is to be appreciated that most if not all of the pertinent details regarding the incident16are collected from the original call for such incident16, and that the repetitive calls for such incident16typically include little if any further pertinent details regarding such incident16. That is to say, once a call center10receives an original call for an incident16and acts upon same, repetitive calls for such incident16likely provide no further details of any particular importance. Accordingly, in various embodiments of the present innovation, the call center10identifies such repetitive calls and handles same in a manner different than such original calls.

As was point out above, handling repetitive calls differently from original calls is desirable for reasons relating to efficiency and resource allocation at the call center10. In particular, it is to be appreciated that the call center10receiving and handling such repetitive calls must dedicate resources that are essentially duplicative and therefore wasteful. More importantly, in instances where the number of repetitive calls for a particular incident16is relatively high, say on the order of 20-50 or even more, the repetitive calls may inundate the call center10to the point where the call center10is swamped with such repetitive calls and cannot address original calls relating to other incidents, which of course is a serious matter.

Anecdotally, it has been reported that such inundation and corresponding swamping occurs on a regular basis at many if not all call centers10whenever an incident16occurs that may be considered major, and/or whenever such incident16is highly reported by callers12. With regard to the latter, it is to be appreciated that the problem is exacerbated by the fact that most everyone has a mobile calling device such as a mobile telephone or the like that can easily be used to report and/or re-report incidents16. As was pointed out above, in an incident16where vehicles are involved in a crash on a highway, callers12reporting the incident16may include the occupants in the vehicles on mobile telephones, passing vehicles on the highway on mobile telephones, nearby pedestrians on mobile telephones, people in nearby houses and other buildings on mobile and landline telephones, and most anybody else nearby. Moreover, callers12can even include people farther away for any of a variety of reasons. An urban city with a call center10having 100 agents22might be swamped by 1000 calls for such an incident16, and a rural county with a call center10having 10 agents22might be swamped by 100 calls for such an incident16. In either case, the call center10can become paralyzed by the inundation of repetitive calls, and the inundation can last for an hour or more.

In any event, and turning now toFIG. 4, in various embodiments of the present innovation, the call center10handles repetitive calls differently from original calls by identifying the repetitive calls and then diverting the repetitive calls to be handled differently than the original calls. For each call from a caller12to the call center10, the computing system24thereof first interrogates information relating to the call to determine a geographic location relating to the call, and then checks the database20for a record18therein that is relatively recent and that has a similar geographic location. If so, the computing system24then queries the caller12to determine whether the incident16of the caller and the incident16of the record18are the same incident16. If so, the call from the caller12is determined to be a repetitive call and not an original call and is diverted from the attention of the agents22at the call center10.

Note that in diverting the call, it may be that the call is terminated, perhaps after an appropriate message is played to the caller, or that the call is terminated only after the caller12is given an opportunity to leave a message. In the latter instance, the caller12can add details regarding the incident16that are believed to be pertinent, perhaps by way of an automated processing system with appropriate prompts and an appropriate response collection system. As alluded to above, the automated processing system may provide voice prompts and collect voice or keypad responses, or may provide text-based prompts and collect appropriate text-based responses, or the like. Thus, the caller12can provide details in a free-form manner, via voice message, text message, email message, or the like, and the details can be reviewed at an appropriate time if need be.

In particular, and as is shown inFIG. 4, for any call from a caller12to the call center10reporting an incident16, such call is received (401) and is first acted upon by the computing system24at the call center10. Specifically, the computing system24obtains from the call/caller12initial information including a geographic location thereof (403), as well as other information including a preliminary identification of the caller12reporting the incident and an identification of a telephone number or other identifier of the caller12, based on the calling device employed by the caller12for the call.

So that an agent22need not be troubled in order to collect such initial information, and in various embodiments of the present innovation such obtained initial information as at403is collected by the computing system24in an automated manner. For example, the preliminary identification of the caller12reporting the incident and an identification of a telephone number or other identifier of the caller12may be collected by way of Caller ID information transmitted with the call from the caller12, or by way of a DNIS (Dialed Number Identification System) lookup. Likewise, a geographic location of the caller12may be collected based on the calling device employed for the call and specifically a GPS location thereof as determined at such calling device and transmitted with the call, or by cell phone tower triangulation techniques, among other things. As should be appreciated, the initial information automatically collected by the computing system24from the caller12as at403may include any other appropriate information without departing from the spirit and scope of the present innovation. Collecting such initial information is generally known or should be apparent to the relevant public and therefore need not be set forth herein in any detail other than that which is provided.

With such initial information relating to the call from the caller12, the computing system24then searches the database20for any matching record18of an incident16where the incident16is relatively recent and where the incident16has a corresponding location that is relatively close to the geographic location of the call/caller12as was obtained at403(405). Presumptively, the computing system24may find zero, one, or multiple ones of such a record18in the database20.

Determining whether an incident16of a record18in the database20is relatively recent may be performed in any appropriate manner and based on any appropriate standard without departing from the spirit and scope of the present innovation. For example, the computing system24presumptively has access to an accurate clock and can therefore determine how much time has elapsed since a time of an incident16of a particular record18in the database20. Thus, it may be a simple rule that an incident16of a record20is relatively recent if the elapsed time since such incident16is less than an hour, or less than two hours, or less than 30 minutes, etc. Correspondingly, it may be a more complicated rule that an incident16of a record20is relatively recent if the elapsed time since such incident16is less than a set amount of time corresponding to a type of the incident16. Thus, for a house fire, the set amount of time might be an hour, while for a heart attack victim the set amount of time might be 30 minutes, for example. Likewise, it may be an even more complicated rule that an incident16of a record20is relatively recent if the elapsed time since such incident16is less than a set amount of time corresponding to a location of the incident16. Thus, for a more urban location, the set amount of time might be an hour, while for a more rural location the set amount of time might be 30 minutes, for example. It may even be that the set amount of time may vary according to a current time of day, or day of year, among other things. As should now be appreciated, determining whether an incident16of a record18in the database20is relatively recent may be performed in most any manner as long as the manner is reasonable based on logic and circumstances.

In a similar way, determining whether an incident16is relatively close to the geographic location of the call/caller12may also be performed in any appropriate manner and based on any appropriate standard without departing from the spirit and scope of the present innovation. Here, preliminarily, it is to be appreciated that a record18in the database20may have one location associated with the caller12of such record18and another location associated with the incident16of such record18, such as may be the case where the caller12of such record18was geographically removed from the incident16of such record18. In such an instance, it may be that only one of the locations is employed, or that both are employed. Also, preliminarily, it is to be appreciated that for a particular location to be most useful in determining closeness, it is likely that such location should be represented as a set spatial coordinates, such as for example latitude and longitude, and perhaps even vertical elevation too. Thus, for purposes of the present innovation, locations should be represented in a spatial coordinate system such as a GPS coordinate system or the like.

With regard to determining whether an incident16is relatively close to the geographic location of the call/caller12, the computing system24presumptively can perform spatial distance calculations based on spatial coordinates and can therefore determine a distance between any two locations. Thus, it may be a simple rule that an incident16of a record20is relatively close to the geographic location of the call/caller12if the calculated distance therebetween is less than a mile, 500 feet, etc. Correspondingly, it may be a more complicated rule that an incident16of a record20is relatively close to the geographic location of the call/caller12if the calculated distance therebetween is less than a set distance corresponding to a type of the incident16. Thus, for a car crash, the set distance might be 2000 feet, while for a plane crash, the distance might be 3 mile, for example. Likewise, it may be an even more complicated rule that an incident16of a record20is relatively close to the geographic location of the call/caller12if the calculated distance therebetween is less than a set distance corresponding to a location of the incident16. Thus, for a more urban location, the set distance might be a tenth a mile, while for a more rural location the set distance might be 2 miles, for example. It may even be that the set distance may vary according to a current time of day, or day of year, among other things. As should now be appreciated, determining whether an incident16of a record18in the database20is relatively close may be performed in most any manner as long as the manner is reasonable based on logic and circumstances.

In various embodiments of the present innovation, determining whether an incident16of a record18in the database20is relatively close to the geographic location of the call/caller12is performed taking into account the type of the incident and a corresponding geographic zone tailored to the type of incident16. For one example, if the type of incident16is a highway auto accident, it is likely that callers12calling repetitive calls into the call center10would do so from a relatively large distance along such highway, and perhaps from a relatively small area on either side of the highway relatively close to the location of the auto accident. Accordingly, in such a type of incident16, it may be that an incident16of a record18in the database20is relatively close to the geographic location of the call/caller12if the call/caller12is on the highway of the auto accident within a relatively large distance from the auto accident, perhaps 5 miles or so, or if the call/caller12is off the highway of the auto accident within a relatively small distance from the auto accident, perhaps a half mile or so. Note here that in addition to a highway auto accident, a similar geographic zone may be tailored for other particular types of incidents16, such as for example a train-related accident along a railroad line, a plane crash along a flight path thereof, etc.

As should be appreciated, in such a scenario, it should be known to the computing system24of the call center10that an auto accident is on a particular highway, and also the computing system24should be able to determine that a call/caller12is on the particular highway. To that end, it may be advisable to include within the database20for a ‘highway auto accident’ type of incident16a sub-type listing the particular highway. More generally, it should be appreciated that defining a geographic zone tailored to a particular type of incident16, and determining whether a call/caller12is on a particular highway, may be performed in any appropriate manner without departing from the spirit and scope of the present innovation. Such actions should be known or at least apparent to the relevant public and therefore need not be set forth herein in any detail other than that which is provided.

Thus far, a call is received at a call center10from a caller12as at401, the computing system24finds the geographic location of the call/caller12as at403, and the computing system24searches the database20for any matching record18of an incident16where the incident16is relatively recent and where the incident16has a corresponding location that is relatively close to the geographic location of the call/caller12as at405. If the computing system24finds no matching records18, it may be presumed that the call from the caller12is an original call (407), and such original call may then be forwarded to an agent22at the call center10for further processing (409). Such processing is known or should be apparent to the relevant public and therefore need not be set forth herein in any detail other than that which is provided. Generally, the agent22, which may be a live agent or an automated agent, for example, collects information relating to what is presumably a new incident16, and dispatches an appropriate responder14to address the new incident16. Also, the collected information for the new incident16is stored in a new record18in the database20in an appropriate format (such as that shown inFIG. 3). As may be appreciated, such record18and database20may take any appropriate form without departing from the spirit and scope of the present innovation as long as the record18and database20can be searched in accordance with the present innovation and specifically in accordance with405. Thus, a subsequent caller12calling the call center12regarding the new incident16will hopefully result in the new record18being identified as a matching record18as at405, and will be treated as a possible repetitive call in the manner set forth below.

Specifically, if the computing system24finds a matching record18(411), and in various embodiments of the present innovation, the computing system24responds to the caller12of the received call as at401by querying such caller12in an effort to determine whether the call is a repetitive call with regard to such matching record (413). In particular, it may be that the computing system employs an automated querying system that plays or relays a relevant message to the caller12. Such relevant message may be any appropriate message without departing from the spirit and scope of the present innovation. Presumptively, the relevant message would among other things thank the caller12for calling, and query the caller12whether the call is regarding the incident16of the matching record18. Also, presumptively, the incident16of the matching record18is provided in the relevant message with sufficient specificity so that the caller12can decide whether the incident16of the call and the incident16of the matching record18are the same incident16.

The caller12may respond to the relevant message in a manner that positively confirms that the incident16of the call has already been reported to the call center10as the incident16of the matching record18, in which case the call is a repetitive call (415). If so, the computing system24may then play a message notifying the caller12that a responder14has already been dispatched, and then may terminate the call from the caller12, or may collect from the caller12any details deemed relevant, as was alluded to above with regard to an automated processing system. Crucially, an agent22need not be employed to service the repetitive call, and the agent22is thus free to address more pressing matters. If deemed necessary or advisable, the computing system24may also update the database20to reflect the repetitive call, such as for example by advancing a repetitive call counter for the matching record18, or by creating a record relating to the repetitive call in an appropriate database. Note, though, that creating such a record relating to the repetitive call in the database20may be inadvisable if such record for such repetitive call in such database20could be identified as a matching record18for a subsequent call. As should be understood, only records18for original calls should be searched as potential matching records18as at405.

The caller12may alternately respond to the relevant message in a manner that does not confirm that the incident16of the call has already been reported to the call center10as the incident16of the matching record18, or at least that the caller12is unsure (417). If so, the computing system24may then take an appropriate action such as for example transferring the call and the caller12to an agent22for further processing as at409. In such case the call is at least potentially an original call. As should be understood, the agent22may handle the potentially original call by first determining whether same is in fact an original call, and if so by collecting information relating to a new incident16, and dispatching an appropriate responder14to address the new incident16. Again, the collected information for the new incident16is stored in a new record18in the database20, and any subsequent caller12calling the call center12regarding the new incident16will hopefully result in the new record18being identified as a matching record18as at405.

If the computing system24finds multiple matching records18as at411, it may be that the computer system24serially queries the caller12regarding each matching record18as at413. Hopefully, the number of matching records18at issue is relatively small, perhaps no more than 2 or 3, or else the call may become overly long and complicated, at least as perceived by the caller12. If instead, the number of matching records18at issue is relatively large, perhaps on the order of 5-10 or more, it may be best for the computing system to forego the automated querying of413et seq. and instead to transfer the call and the caller12to an agent22for further processing, even if the call could potentially be a repetitive call.

CONCLUSION

The programming believed necessary to effectuate the processes performed by the computing system24and the database20in connection with the various embodiments of the present innovation is relatively straight-forward and should be apparent to the relevant programming public. Accordingly, such programming is not attached hereto. Any particular programming, then, may be employed to effectuate the various embodiments of the present innovation without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.

In the present innovation, a method and mechanism are set forth for handling repetitive calls in a call center10or the like. Based on a location of a caller12, incidents16known to the call center10are queried to determine whether a known incident16is relatively recent and relatively close to the caller12. If so, the known incident16is at least potentially the incident of the call and caller12, and the caller12may be appropriately queried to confirm that the call is indeed a repetitive call. Again, an agent22need not be employed to service the repetitive call, and the agent22is thus free to address more pressing matters.

It should be appreciated that changes could be made to the embodiments described above without departing from the innovative concepts thereof. For example, although the present innovation is set forth with specific reference to an emergency-type call center10, such innovation may also be practiced by any other appropriate type of call-receiving entity that wishes to handle repetitive calls efficiently. Moreover, although the present innovation is set forth primarily in terms of telephonic calls or the like, such innovation may also be practiced in connection with any other appropriate type of communications medium and other types of call, perhaps with suitable modification. Likewise, although the present innovation is set forth with reference to the use of live agents22, such live agents22need not necessarily be employed, in which case suitably programmed automated agents22may be employed. It should be understood, therefore, that this innovation is not limited to the particular embodiments disclosed, but it is intended to cover modifications within the spirit and scope of the present innovation as defined by the appended claims.