Abstract:
An automatic call distribution system is adapted to connect a telephone call of a caller to an agent station through a public switched telephone network (PSTN) where call information identifiers received from the PSTN are repopulated. The method includes the steps of receiving the incoming telephone from the PSTN, transferring the incoming call to a voice response unit (VRU), requesting, by the VRU, predetermined data from the caller, receiving, by the VRU, the requested predetermined data, repopulating a portion of the call information identifiers with repopulated data corresponding to the predetermined data, transferring the incoming telephone call back to the automatic call distribution system from the VRU along with the repopulated data retained within the call information identifiers, routing the transferred call to the agent station, displaying the repopulated data.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to a method and system for providing customer data to an agent of an automatic call distribution system, and more specifically to a method and system to remotely collect customer data and transfer the data to the agent. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Systems which automatically distribute customer contacts or calls (generically referred to as “ACD”) are often employed in telemarketing environments in which agents stationed at agent telephone sets answer many different types of telephone calls and other types of customer contacts (VoIP, emails, facsimile, chat room dialog, instant messages, other Internet contacts, etc.) from customers during a work day. As referred to herein, an ACD may be referred to as an automatic call distributor or an automatic contact distributor because the ACD handles a variety of communication media. In other words, the ACD handles many forms of communication, not just telephone calls in which a potential customer speaks with an agent. The term “ACD” may apply to any type of transaction processing system, and need not apply only to dedicated telemarketing systems or automatic call distributors. In known ACD&#39;s, the agent may receive certain information about the type of customer call (i.e. contact) on a visual display at the agent set when a call or contact is distributed to the agent. An ACD is any such system which performs these functions and, for example, may employ a wide variety of architectures including integrated centralized systems, distributed systems, systems using one or more personal computers or servers, etc. 
     In some embodiments, ACD&#39;s may be used to support a number of different vendors in their telemarketing effort, and in such marketing environments, the agent is typically in communication with the customer or potential customer with respect to or on behalf of a particular vendor. The next contact that the agent processes may be on behalf of the same vendor or on behalf of a different vendor. In another embodiment, ACD&#39;s may be used exclusively by or on behalf of a single vendor such that all of the contacts processed by the agent involve one particular vendor. 
     Often, preliminary information is first obtained from the caller or prospective customer before or as the call is routed to the agent of the ACD. This permits the agent to more quickly and efficiently service the call. It is often desirable to obtain the preliminary customer data though an interactive device, such as a voice response unit (VRU) or an interactive voice response unit. In some known ACD systems, the VRU or equivalent unit is incorporated within the ACD or agent station. In such a system, for example, the VRU typically plays a prerecorded message instructing the customer to provide certain information, such as credit card number and the like. The customer responds by depressing the appropriate touch-tone keys of the telephone. The ACD then transfers this preliminary information to the agent display when the call is routed to the agent. 
     It is also desirable for ACD systems to communication remotely with VRU devices. In this case, the ACD would place a telephone call to the VRU through the public switched telephone network. This adds system redundancy and flexibility. When accessing the VRU remotely, however, there is no suitable facility for transmitting the acquired preliminary customer data back to the ACD. Of course, a second telephone line could be used to transmit the data back to the ACD, but this costly and inefficient. Accordingly, a need exists to permit transmission of preliminary customer data from a remote VRU to an ACD using an existing telephone circuit. 
     SUMMARY 
     The disadvantages of present call transaction systems are substantially overcome with the present invention by providing a novel method and system for data field reuse in an automatic call distribution system. 
     More specifically, in one embodiment of the present invention, an automatic call distribution system is adapted to connect a telephone call of a caller to an agent station through a public switched telephone network (PSTN) where call information identifiers received from the PSTN are repopulated. The method includes the steps of receiving the incoming telephone from the PSTN, transferring the incoming call to a voice response unit (VRU), requesting, by the VRU, predetermined data from the caller, receiving, by the VRU, the requested predetermined data, repopulating a portion of the call information identifiers with repopulated data corresponding to the predetermined data, transferring the incoming telephone call back to the automatic call distribution system from the VRU along with the repopulated data retained within the call information identifiers, routing the transferred call to the agent station, displaying the repopulated data. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The features of the present invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
         FIG. 1  is a pictorial representation of a specific embodiment of a transaction processing system showing an agent terminal or computer, an exemplary automatic call distributor and a voice response unit; 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram of a specific example of a known ACD system; 
         FIG. 3  is a flowchart of a specific embodiment of a method for repopulating call information identifiers with data obtained by a remote voice response unit; and 
         FIG. 4  is a flowchart of a specific alternative method for repopulating call information identifiers with data obtained by a remote voice response unit. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In this written description, the use of the disjunctive is intended to include the conjunctive. The use of definite or indefinite articles in not intended to indicate cardinality. In particular, a reference to “the” object or thing or “an” object or “a” thing is intended to also describe a plurality of such objects or things. 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 1 and 2 ,  FIG. 1  shows an exemplary embodiment of a transaction processing system  10 . The transaction processing system  10  includes an automatic call distributor or automatic contact distributor system (ACD or ACD system)  16 . A typical ACD system  16  is shown in greater detail in  FIG. 2 . 
     The ACD  16  of  FIG. 2  facilitates routing of incoming calls or contacts (“transactions”) to agents associated with the ACD. The ACD  16  processes both voice-dialog communications or transactions, as well as non-voice dialog communications and transactions. The present invention may be implemented in numerous types and sizes of systems for distributing calls to selected ones of a plurality of agents. One example of an ACD system that may be used in the present invention is the SPECTRUM ACD product, available from Rockwell Electronic Commerce Corp. of Illinois. Another example of an ACD system that may be used in the present invention is the TRANSCEND 3.0 ACD product, also available from Rockwell Electronic Commerce Corp. of Illinois. The ACD  16  may be a single integrated device, or may include distributed hardware and software. 
     Other types of call distribution systems including, for example, distribution systems or those using one or more personal computers or servers, may also be used. Some other suitable ACD&#39;s are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,268,903, issued to Jones et al. on Dec. 7, 1993, entitled “Multichannel Telephonic Switching Network With Different Signaling Formats and Connect/PBX Treatment Selectable For Each Channel,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,140,611, issued to Jones et al. on Aug. 18, 1992, entitled “Pulse width Modulated Self-Clocking and Self-Synchronizing Data Transmission and Method for a Telephonic Communication Switching System,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,004, issued to Lenihan et al. on Jun. 30, 1992, entitled “Tone and Announcement Message Code Generator for a Telephonic Switching System and Method,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,289,373 B1, issued to Dezonno on Sep. 11, 2001, entitled “Method of Processing E-Mail in an Automatic Call Distributor,” and U.S. Pat. No. 6,097,806, issued to Baker et al. on Aug. 1, 2000, entitled “ACD with Multi-Lingual Agent Position,” the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. 
     With respect to  FIG. 2 , a customer or caller may be connected to the ACD  16  through a public switched telephone network (PSTN)  18 , which caller may connect to the PSTN through a standard telephone set or customer telephone  20 . However, any suitable computer, cellular telephone, or communication device may be used. Note that the term “caller” as used herein does not necessarily mean that the contact or person using the telephone  20 , for example, initiated the call to the agent. Notably, the agent may have initiated the call to the contact. Accordingly, the term “caller” shall broadly refer to the contact or potential customer even though the agent may have originated or initiated the call or contact. Additionally, the term “call” may be a telephone call, or it may be any other form of communication (emails etc.) as set forth above. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, an agent station or terminal  32  is shown coupled to the ACD  16 , but any suitable number of agents may be coupled thereto. The agent station  32  may be a computer or may be coupled to a computer, such as a personal computer and the like. The agent stations  32  may also include agent telephone sets  34  or may only include a headset with speaker and microphone. 
     The ACD  16  may comprise hardware and/or software and, for example, may include a main memory  40 , a central processing unit  44  and a multiport switch  46 , each of which may be separate units, distributed components, or integrated at a single location or single cabinet. The multiport switch  46  is coupled to the PSTN  18 , which in turn, is connected to the customer telephones  20  or other communication devices. The central processing unit  44  may include storage, such as hard disk storage  48 , and may also be coupled to a system administration unit  50 . The ACD  16  is connected through a suitable communication link to the plurality of agent telephonic sets  34 , for example, through a basic rate line (BRL)  52 , as is known in the art. The agent computer station  32  and the agent telephone sets  34  may be incorporated into a single unit, as is known in the art. The BRL  52  generally handles only the voice channel, not data. Accordingly, the agent computer station  32  may also coupled to the central processing unit  44  of the ACD  16  through a local area network (LAN)  54  or other suitable communication link so that data can also be handled. 
     Referring back to  FIG. 1 , in one specific embodiment, the ACD  16  may connect to a voice response unit (VRU)  60  and may communicate with the VRU through the PSTN  18 . The VRU  60  is preferably separate and apart from the ACD  16 , thus, the ACD essentially calls or dials the telephone number of the VRU. This adds redundancy and flexibility to the system  10 . For example, if one VRU fails to function properly, another VRU may be easily contacted. The VRU  60  may be operatively coupled to a host computer  66  via a local area network (LAN)  70 , as is known in the art. The VRU  60  may also be coupled to a voice recognition processor  72  or software module, as is known in the art. 
     The host computer  66  may be any suitable computing device, such as, for example a microprocessor, RISC processor, mainframe computer, work station, single-chip computer, distributed processor, server, controller, micro-controller, discrete logic computer, remote computer, personal computer, internet computer, web computer, and the like. The host computer function may also be incorporated in another system processor, e.g., as software running on the processor of the ACD  16 . The host computer  66  may access a database  74 , which may be remote from the host computer or which may be contained within the host computer data storage system, as is known in the art. The host computer  66  may be further coupled to the agent computer  32  so that data in the database  74  is accessible to the agent computer. The host computer  66  is preferably coupled to a database interface  78  in the agent computer  32  through a local area network (LAN)  80 , as is known in the art. 
     The agent computer  32 , for example, may be a “virtual telephone,” meaning that the agent need not have access to a conventional telephone. That is, the agent may only require a headset or a speaker and microphone. A display  84  coupled to the agent computer  32  preferably “simulates” all of the functions of a conventional telephone. For example, a telephone dial keypad would appear on the display  84  and the agent would simply touch the appropriate displayed digits to dial. Of course, the agent could type the appropriate digits on an agent computer keyboard  88 , as is known in the art. Alternatively, the agent may use a conventional telephone  94 , which may be coupled to the agent computer  32  through a terminal adapter  100 , as is known in the art. 
     The agent computer  32  runs various software modules or applications  104  to perform its functions. For example, an application referred to as CONVERGENCE available from Rockwell Electronic Commerce Corp. of Illinois may be used to perform the telephone simulation and provide the “virtual telephone.” Other applications handle the various screens or forms displayed to the agent, and process the data entered by the agent. 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 1 and 3 , in one specific embodiment, the automatic call distribution system  16  receives an incoming telephone call via the PSTN  18 , as shown in a step  120 . Before the incoming telephone call is routed to a suitable agent, the call is first transferred to the VRU  60 , as shown in a step  122 . Note that the incoming telephone call preferably includes ANI (automatic number identification) fields and DNIS (dialed number information service) fields, as is known in the art. Preferably, the ANI and DNIS fields are each at least twelve characters in length, but may be larger or smaller depending upon the subscription that the user has purchased. For purposes of illustration, these fields are referred to as call information identifiers, and may consist of the ANI and/or the DNIS field. 
     The VRU  60  may be programmed to request certain information from the caller, which of course, may be changed to accommodate various applications and business environments. Preferably, using a recorded or automated voice message, the VRU  60  requests certain information or predetermined data from the caller, as shown in a step  126 . Because the ACD  16  transferred the incoming telephone call to the VRU  60 , a voice channel between the VRU and the caller exists. For example, the VRU  60  may ask the caller to provide his or her social security number, credit card number, account number, and the like. Using the telephone keypad, the caller may respond by typing in the digits corresponding to the request, as shown in a step  130 . Of course, the VRU  60  is not limited in the kind of data that may be requested from the caller, and the term “predetermined data” does not mean that the type of data cannot be changed. To the contrary, the predetermined data requested by the VRU  60  may change frequently, and may even vary depending upon the identity of the caller. 
     Alternatively, the caller may elect to speak the information rather than to use the key pad. In that case, the voice recognition processor  72  or commercially available voice recognition software, as is known in the art, may be used to decode the caller&#39;s spoken response and convert the response into the appropriate digits, as shown in a step  134  in dashed lines. For example, it is awkward to obtain alphanumeric characters, such as the letters of the caller&#39;s name or address, through the caller&#39;s touch-tone key pad because several keys must be depressed to identify a single letter. Callers are generally impatient with this approach and tend not to complete the call. 
     In either case, the VRU  60  receives the requested predetermined data from the caller. The VRU  60  next repopulates the call information identifiers with the predetermined data, as shown in a step  136 . Repopulation of the call information identifiers, of course, overwrites the information in the call information identifiers corresponding to the incoming customer telephone call. Accordingly, the VRU  60  may save the call information identifiers (ANI and DNIS data) prior to repopulation. The VRU  60  repopulates the call information identifiers with the predetermined data received from the caller in order to provide the predetermined data back to the ACD  16 . 
     Because the VRU  60  may be separate from the ACD  16 , and coupled thereto over the telephone link established between the caller and the ACD, the voice channel to the caller is active. There are few feasible alternatives for transmitting the predetermined data collected by the VRU  60  back to the ACD  16 . Of course, DTMF tones could be used to transmit the predetermined data, but this is undesirable because such tones would be audible to the caller. As described above, the VRU  60  could transmit the predetermined data over a second telephone line, but this approach is expensive, complex, and inefficient. Accordingly, under the present method, the customer data or predetermined data obtained by the VRU  60  is inserted into the call information identifiers, which are standard protocol. 
     In some cases, the length or amount of the predetermined data requested from the caller by the VRU  60  is minimal, and is able to be written into the data fields of the call information identifiers. For example, the caller may enter an eight digit account code and the like. In such a case, the predetermined data may be fully written or saved within the call information identifiers. 
     In other situations, however, the predetermined data requested and obtained by the VRU  60  may be larger than the call information identifiers, that is, it cannot all fit. In this case, the VRU  60  may access the host computer  66  and obtain from the database  74  a customer record key that identifies the caller. The customer record key may be found based on some of the predetermined data entered by the customer, such as by credit card number or account number. In this case, the customer record key is provided to the VRU  60  by the host computer  66 , and the VRU may insert the customer record key into the call information identifiers, as shown in the step  136 . 
     Once the VRU  60  has populated the call information identifiers with the predetermined data or customer data, (or customer record key) the VRU may transfer the telephone call back to the ACD  16 , as shown in a step  140 . Note that the VRU  60  transfers the telephone call back to the ACD  16 , which telephone call contains the call information identifiers repopulated with the predetermined data or customer record key. The ACD  16  then again has control of the incoming call, and may route the call to an appropriate agent, according to known methods, as shown in a step  144 . The agent computer  32  may then display the predetermined data or customer data on the display  84  to aid the agent in handling the incoming telephone call, as shown in a step  146 . 
     If the call information identifiers contain the customer record key rather than the actual predetermined data, the agent computer  32  may access the database  74  via the host computer  66 , as shown alternatively in dashed lines in a step  150 . In such case, the host computer  66  may use the customer record key to access the database  74  and obtain customer data, which is transmitted back to the agent computer  32  and displayed on the display device  84 . 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 1 and 4 ,  FIG. 4  is a flowchart of a specific alternate embodiment according to the present method and system. According to this specific embodiment, some of the steps are the same as the steps set forth in  FIG. 3 . In particular, the steps  120 ,  122 ,  126 ,  130 ,  134  and  136  are the same. Accordingly, for purposes of illustration and clarity, those steps shall not be repeated in this description or as shown in  FIG. 4 . After the VRU  60  has repopulated the call information identifiers with the predetermined data, as previously shown in the step  136 , the VRU may request additional data from the host computer  66  based on the predetermined data provided by the caller, as shown in a step  160 . For example, the VRU  60  may provide sufficient information to the host computer  66  to permit the host computer to identify the caller. This may permit the host computer  66  to access detailed data from the database  74  corresponding to the caller. 
     In this regard, there may be specific information in the database  74  with respect to which particular agent of the ACD  16  should handle the call. For example, a particular caller may always want to speak to a specific agent. Alternatively, the host computer  32 , after inspecting the detailed data corresponding to the caller, may determine that the caller is delinquent in paying his or her bill. In such case, the host computer  32  may determine or derive that the call should be directed to an agent in the “collections” department. Accordingly, the host computer  32  via the database  74  may provide detailed data about the caller which either identifies a particular agent with whom to connect the caller, or may permit the host computer  66  to derive or identify a particular agent or agent group with whom to connect the caller, as shown in a step  164 . 
     In one embodiment, once a particular agent or agent group has been identified by the host computer  32  as being best suit to handle the call, the host computer may provide the VRU  60  with the telephone number of the identified agent to call, as shown in a step  168 . The VRU  60  may then transfer the incoming telephone call directly back to the ACD  16  by dialing the specified agent or agent group telephone number in the ACD  16  identified by the host computer  32 , as shown in a step  170 . This may, for example, be a “hook-transfer” type of operation. The ACD  16  may then route the call to the specified agent, as shown in a step  172 . As shown in a step  176 , the predetermined data or customer data obtained using the customer record key is displayed on the display  84  to aid the agent in handling the incoming telephone call. 
     Specific embodiments of a method and system for data field reuse according to the present invention have been described for the purpose of illustrating the manner in which the invention may be made and used. It should be understood that implementation of other variations and modifications of the invention and its various aspects will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and that the invention is not limited by the specific embodiments described. It is therefore contemplated to cover by the present invention any and all modifications, variations, or equivalents that fall within the true spirit and scope of the basic underlying principles disclosed and claimed herein.