Method and apparatus for mobile monitoring of an interactive service center

A method and apparatus for mobile monitoring of an interactive service center (contact center), having a central installation and a multiplicity of terminals for agents processing inquiries, the monitoring being effected by a supervisor using a mobile communication unit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION FIG. 1 shows an interactive service center (contact center) 10 having a central installation 1 , a fixed monitoring unit 2 , terminals 3 - 6 and a mobile monitoring unit 7 . The central installation 1 is connected to the network 8 and to the transmission unit 9 . The contact center 10 receives an inquiry from the network 8 , and this inquiry is switched in the central installation 1 to the terminal 3 - 6 of a free agent. The inquiry is then processed by the agent. The agents and their terminals 3 - 6 may be split into groups and additionally into service levels according to the type or quality of the service. The central installation 1 records all the data in the contact center 10 which relate to the processing of the inquiries or to management of the processing, and evaluates these data to produce supervisory information. The supervisory information is displayed for a supervisor on the fixed monitoring unit 2 . The supervisory information is also transmitted wirelessly, using the transmission unit 9 , to a mobile communication unit 7 for the supervisor, which mobile communication unit likewise displays this information. In this context, the transmission unit 9 may be a local mobile telephone system or an interface to the public mobile radio network, for example. On the basis of the supervisory information displayed, the supervisor can use the mobile communication unit 7 to take control action in the contact center. By way of example, he/she can react to an increased number of inquiries for a group by sending a message to an agent or to the appropriate head of the group to transfer one agent from one group to another for a short time, or by telling the agents in a group to process the inquiries as quickly as possible. The mobile communication unit 7 also provides the supervisor with the opportunity to follow individual inquiries as they are handled; for example, to monitor calls, to follow processing, to exchange messages with the agents or groups, to remove individual agents from a group or to request additional agents. Recorded data or the supervisory information can be transmitted to the mobile communication unit 7 at the supervisor's request at regular intervals of time or when critical values for the supervisory information or recorded data (criteria) are reached, or else may be just signaled for the last two methods. These embodiments also can be used in combination with one another. The supervisory information is created universally in the central installation 1 or in the fixed monitoring unit 2 . However, when needed, the supervisor also creates the supervisory information on his/her mobile communication unit 7 and can thus react flexibly to unforeseeable situations. The supervisory information may be the following, for example: number of inquiries in a queue, inquiry disconnection rate, average disconnection rate, average waiting time, number of inquiries exceeding time, oldest inquiry, overview of agent status (free, processing, finishing off, break, etc.), agent overview, short-term statistics, discrepancies from normal values. A conceivable mobile communication unit 7 is any mobile computer-controlled unit with a display facility; for example, a pager, a mobile telephone, a personal digital assistant or a portable computer. On the basis of one refinement of the mobile communication unit 7 , the recorded data and the supervisory information are transmitted as pure data, voice information, text information or image information. For a mobile telephone, transmission by short message (SMS) or retrieval using WAP is possible, for example. The inquiries to be processed may be received, by way of example, over the Internet, a public telephone network or a mobile radio network. Considering IP-based telephony, the central installation 1 can be split, by way of example, into a switching unit, an evaluation unit, a CTI server, a local area network, computers for the agents, a local mobile telephone network and a customer database. Although the present invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, those of skill in the art will recognize that changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the hereafter appended claims.