Abstract:
A telecommunication call center handles a call from a telecommunication network. The call center comprises a call center processor and a call center destination system. The call center processor receives and processes a message from the telecommunication network for the call to select a route code and to select a key, wherein the route code and the key are separate from one another. The call center processor transfers the route code and the key to the telecommunication network. The call center processor transfers the key and call-handling information for the call to the destination system. The destination system receives the key and the call from the telecommunication network, and associates the call with the call-handling information based on the key.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This patent application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/192,942; entitled “A KEY TO CORRELATE A CALL WITH CALL-HANDLING INFORMATION;” filed on Jul. 11, 2002 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,003,088; and hereby incorporated by reference into this patent application. 

   FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
   Not applicable 
   MICROFICHE APPENDIX 
   Not applicable 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The invention is related to the field of communications, and in particular, to the use of a key from a remote call processor to correlate call-handling information with a call. 
   2. Description of the Prior Art 
   Call center operations receive large volumes of calls. Examples of call center operations are airline reservation and customer service operations, mail-order operations, and telephone promotion operations. A call center operation controls the routing of incoming calls to the proper call center destination. The call center operation also provides the system or operator that answers the call with pertinent call-handling information. 
   For example, the telephone network may collect a account code from the caller and deliver the account code to the call center operation during call set-up. If the account code indicates a preferred customer, then the call center operation may have the call routed to a highly-skilled operator who is provided with the caller&#39;s name and current account information. In this way, a skilled operator may answer a call from a preferred customers with the customer&#39;s actual name and with current account information ready to quickly assist the preferred customer. 
   An existing technique for correlating call-handling information with an incoming call is described in detail below with respect to  FIGS. 1-3 . The existing technique requires the call center operation to use Dialed Number Information Service (DNIS) and Automatic Number Identification (ANI) to correlate calls with call-handling information. Unfortunately, to obtain the proper DNIS for a call, the call center operation must provide a route code for the call that corresponds to both the selected destination for the call and the proper DNIS for the call. Thus, the route code performs a dual role—correlation to both a route and DNIS digits. As discussed below, this dual role places a complex correlation burden on both the call center operation and the telecommunication network. Due to existing switching system configurations, this dual role also causes call blocking in certain situations. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The invention helps solve the above problems with a key to correlate a call with its call-handling information. Advantageously, the route code from the remote processor no longer has the dual role of identifying both a destination and DNIS digits because the key can be passed as the DNIS digits and the route code can be used for routing. The use of the key radically simplifies the complex correlations required by existing systems. The use of the key also reduces or eliminates the call blocking based on switching system table entry limitations. 
   Examples of the invention include telecommunication networks, call center operations, their subsystems, and methods of operating telecommunication networks, call center operations, and their subsystems. The invention may include software products for telecommunication networks and call center operations. 
   Examples of the invention include a telecommunication call center and its method of operation. The telecommunication call center handles a call from a telecommunication network. The telecommunication call center comprises a call center processor and a call center destination system. The call center processor receives a message from the telecommunication network for the call. The call center processor processes the message to select a route code and to select a key, wherein the route code and the key are separate from one another. The call center processor transfers the route code and the key to the telecommunication network. The call center processor transfers the key and call-handling information for the call to the call center destination system. The call center destination system receives the key and the call-handling information from the call center processor. The call center destination system receives the key and the call from the telecommunication network. The call center destination system associates the call with the call-handling information based on the key. 
   In some examples of the invention, the telecommunication network routes the call to the call center destination system based on the route code. 
   In some examples of the invention, the call-handling information indicates an interactive program for a voice response unit. 
   In some examples of the invention, the call-handling information indicates a script for an operator. 
   In some examples of the invention, the call-handling information indicates a caller identity. 
   In some examples of the invention, the call-handling information includes caller-entered data transferred to the call center by the telecommunication network. 
   In some examples of the invention, the call-handling information indicates a caller account code. 
   In some examples of the invention, the call center destination system transfers status information to the call center processor, and the call center processor selects the route code based on the status information. 
   In some examples of the invention, the status information indicates call center resource availability. 
   In some examples of the invention, the status information indicates call center operator availability. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The same reference number represents the same element on all drawings. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a telecommunication network and a call center operation in an example of the prior art. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates the operation of a telecommunication network and a call center operation in an example of the prior art. 
       FIG. 3  illustrates telecommunication call processing in an example of the prior art. 
       FIG. 4  illustrates a telecommunication network and a remote call processor in an example of the invention. 
       FIG. 5  illustrates the operation of a telecommunication network and a remote call processor in an example of the invention. 
       FIG. 6  illustrates telecommunication call processing in an example of the invention. 
       FIG. 7  illustrates a network call processor and a remote call processor in an example of the invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   Existing Telecommunication Network and Call Center Operation— FIGS. 1-3   
   Prior to a discussion of the invention, a more detailed description of existing telecommunication networks and call center operations is presented to provide a better understanding of the invention as described further below.  FIG. 1  illustrates telecommunication network  100  and call center operation  110  in an example of the prior art. Telecommunication network  100  includes switching systems  105  and Service Control Point (SCP)  106  that are linked together. Call center operation  110  includes destination systems  111 - 113  and Remote Processor (RP)  114  that are linked together. Switching systems  105  are linked to origination systems  101 - 103  and to destination systems  111 - 113 . SCP  106  is linked to RP  114 . 
   Origination systems  101 - 103  are caller systems and communication networks that access telecommunication network  100 . The origination and destination systems are dispersed across a large geographic area, and there are more origination and destination systems than that shown, but the number has been restricted for clarity. Switching systems  105  could be an interconnected group of DMS-250 switches from Nortel Networks. SCP  106  could be the Himalaya from Compac. RP  114  could be the ICM from Cisco Systems. 
     FIG. 2  illustrates the operation of telecommunication network  100  and call center operation  110  in an example of the prior art. At the top right, destination system  113  transfers status information to RP  114  to indicate operator and resource availability. Similar status information is transferred by the other destination systems to indicate operator and resource availability across call center operation  110 . 
   At the top left, origination system  101  transfers a Signaling System #7 (SS7) Initial Address Message (IAM) indicating a called toll-free number and other information to switching systems  105 . Switching systems  105  receive and process the IAM to generate and transfer an SS7 Transaction Capability Application Part (TCAP) query to SCP  106 . SCP  106  receives and processes the TCAP query to generate and transfer an RP inquiry to RP  114 . The message processing and transfer described above from switching systems  105  to SCP  106  to RP  114  is triggered by the called toll-free number. 
   RP  114  receives and processes the RP inquiry based on operator and resource availability to generate and transfer an RP response indicating a route code. SCP  106  receives and processes the RP response to generate and transfer a TCAP response indicating a table and a table entry. Switching systems  105  receive and process the TCAP response to identify a terminating switch/trunk and DNIS digits for the telephone call. 
   Switching systems  105  establish a call path from origination system  101  to destination system  113  over the terminating switch/trunk. Switching systems  105  outpulse the DNIS and ANI digits to destination system  113  over the call path. Destination system  113  receives and processes the outpulsed digits to generate and transfer a request to RP  114  indicating the outpulsed digits. RP  114  receives and processes the request to generate and transfer call-handling information for the call to destination system  113 . Thus, RP  114  must correlate the DNIS and ANI for the incoming call with the proper call-handling information. Switching systems  105  exchange call communications between origination system  101  and destination system  113  over the call path. 
   The call-handling information may identify the caller. The call-handling information may identify a script an operator to use when answering the call or an interactive program for a voice response unit to run when answering the call. The call-handling information may include data collected from the caller by telecommunication system  100  and transferred to call center operation  110 —for example in the RP inquiry. Examples of caller-entered information include account codes and menu selections. The call-handling information may include caller account information. 
     FIG. 3  illustrates telecommunication call processing in an example of the prior art. Note that for clarity, the tables on  FIG. 3  are highly simplified and use dummy entries. As indicated above, SCP  106  receives the RP response that indicates a route code—route code “3333337777” in this example. SCP  106  enters a table for RP  114  with route code “333337777” to yield switch table “C” and table entry “34567”. SCP  106  transfers the TCAP response that indicates switch table “C” and table entry “34567” to switching systems  105 . Switching systems  105  enter switch table “C” with table entry “34567” to yield switch/trunk “X/13” and outpulse digits “7654”. Switching systems  105  then outpulse the digits “7654” from switch “X” over trunk “13”. Switching systems  105  also route the call from switch “X” over trunk “13” to destination system  113 . 
   As noted in the Background section above, each toll-free number is limited to 192 table entries. Each of these table entries must be pre-assigned to a given combination of switch/trunk and outpulse digits. If call center operation has four sites, then each site has 48 table entries. If each site has 4 departments (i.e.—generic customer service, preferred customer service, generic product ordering, and special product ordering), then each department at each site has only 12 table entries. Since the table entries are allocated to incoming calls, a given department at a given site can only queue 12 callers before they run out of table entries to allocate. After 12 callers in queue, switching systems  105  begin to block calls to the department. Call blocking to call center operation  110  can have serious negative consequences—especially during a mass calling event or promotion. 
   In addition to potential call blocking, there must be proper correlations between the toll-free numbers, route codes, switch tables, table entries, switch/trunks, and outpulse digits. Since these correlations start at RP  114 , call center operation  110  is burdened with a complex correlation task to manage incoming calls. Since destination system  113  uses the outpulse digits to request information about the call from RP  114 , RP  114  must also be configured to correlate call-handling information with the outpulse digits. Telecommunication network  100  must deal with implementing the complex correlation scheme. 
   New Telecommunication Network and Remote Call Processor— FIGS. 4-7   
     FIGS. 4-7  and the following description depict specific examples to teach those skilled in the art how to make and use the best mode of the invention. For the purpose of teaching inventive principles, some conventional aspects have been simplified or omitted. Those skilled in the art will appreciate variations from these examples that fall within the scope of the invention. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the features described below can be combined in various ways to form multiple variations of the invention. As a result, the invention is not limited to the specific examples described below, but only by the claims and their equivalents. 
     FIG. 4  illustrates telecommunication network  400  and remote call processor  414  in an example of the invention. Telecommunication network  400  includes communication system  405  and network call processor  406  that are linked together. Communication system  405  is linked to origination systems  401 - 403  and to destination systems  411 - 413 . Network call processor  406  is linked to remote call processor  414 . Remote call processor  414  is linked to destination systems  411 - 413 . 
   Origination systems  401 - 403  are caller systems and communication networks that access telecommunication network  400 . The origination and destination systems may be dispersed across a large geographic area, and there may be more origination and destination systems than that shown, but the number has been restricted for clarity. 
   Communication system  405  could be an interconnected group of telecommunication switches, such as the DMS-250 from Nortel Networks. Alternatively, communication system  105  could use routers, gateways, other types of switches, and other communication equipment. Network call processor  106  could be an SCP, such as the Himalaya from Compac. Remote call processor could be an RP, such as the ICM from Cisco Systems. In some examples of the invention, destination systems  411 - 413  and remote call processor  414  could comprise a call center operation. In some examples of the invention, remote call processor  414  could be hosted by telecommunication network  400 . 
     FIG. 5  illustrates the operation of telecommunication network  400  and remote call processor  414  in an example of the invention. At the top right, destination system  413  transfers status information to remote call processor  414 . The status information may indicate operator and resource availability. Similar status information is transferred by the other destination systems. 
   At the top left, origination system  401  transfers a first message to communication system  405 . The first message could be an SS7 IAM or some other type of call-set-up signal. The first message may indicate a called number and other information, and the called number could be a toll-free number. Communication system  405  receives and processes the first message to generate and transfer a second message to network call processor  406 . The second message could be an SS7 TCAP or some other type of query signal. Network call processor  406  receives and processes the second message to generate and transfer a third message to remote call processor  414 . The third message could be an RP inquiry or some other type of query signal. The message processing and transfer described above from communication system  405  to network call processor  406  to remote call processor  414  may be triggered by a called toll-free number. 
   Remote call processor  414  receives and processes the third message based on the destination status information to generate and transfer a fourth message indicating a route code and a key. The fourth message could be an RP response or some other type of response signal. Remote call processor  414  also generates and transfers a fifth message indicating the key and information about the call to destination system  413 . 
   Network call processor  406  receives and processes the fourth message to generate and transfer a sixth message indicating a switch table, table entry, and the key. The sixth message could be a TCAP response or some other type of response signal. Communication system  405  receives and processes the sixth message to identify a route for the call. The route could be a switch/trunk or some other type of route information, such as a packet address or optical connection. 
   Communication system  405  establishes a call path from origination system  401  to destination system  413  over the route. Communication system  405  transfers the key to destination system  413 —possibly by outpulsing digits over the call path. Destination system  413  receives and processes the key from communication system  405  to correlate the call communications with the call-handling information. Communication system  405  exchanges call communications between origination system  401  and destination system  413  over the call path. 
   The call-handling information may identify the caller. The call-handling information may identify a script for an operator to use when answering the call or an interactive program for a voice response unit to run when answering the call. The call-handling information may include data collected from the caller by telecommunication system  100  and transferred to call center operation  110 —for example in the RP inquiry. Examples of caller-entered information include account codes and menu selections. The call-handling information may include caller account information. For example, a financial account code could be collected from the caller and transferred from network call processor  406  to remote call processor  414 . Remote call processor  414  would transfer the financial account code and the key to destination system  413 . Destination system  413  may use the account code to retrieve caller identity and account information When destination system  413  subsequently receives the call, it can associate the call with the caller identity and account information based on the key. 
     FIG. 6  illustrates telecommunication call processing in an example of the invention. Note that for clarity, the tables on  FIG. 6  are highly simplified and use dummy entries. As indicated above, network call processor  406  receives the RP response that indicates a route code and a key. The route code and key are combined into a route label—“3330000888” in this example. Network call processor  406  first attempts an exact match of the route label, and if found, processing proceeds as above for  FIG. 3  to provide backward compatibility with existing systems. 
   If the exact match is not found, then network call processor  406  identifies the number of route code digits in the beginning of the route label. The number of route code digits may be specified on a per called number basis. In this example there are three route code digits at the beginning of the route label, and thus, the route code is “333XXXXXXX” where the Xs mask the other digits. Network call processor  406  enters a table for remote call processor  414  with the masked route code “333XXXXXXX” to yield table “C” and entry “34567”. 
   Network call processor  406  then reconfigures the entry yield as follows. Network call processor  406  counts the number of right-most zeros in the matching table entry for the route code to identify the number of digits in the key. In this example, there are three right-most zeroes in the matching table entry “3339999000”, so their are three digits at the end of the route label that make-up the key—“888”. Network call processor  406  uses the key from the end of the route label to overwrite the corresponding number of digits at the end of the entry yield. In this example, network call processor  406  overwrites the three digits at the end of the entry yield “34567” with the key “888” to get “34888” as the reconfigured entry. Network call processor  406  transfers the response to communication system  405  that indicates table “C” and entry/key “34888”. The response may indicate the number of digits at the end of the table entry that comprise the key. 
   Communication system  405  enters table “C” with “34888” to yield route “V”. Note that the table entries now use ranges to accommodate insertion of the key in the entry. Communication system  405  then obtains the key from the end of the entry and transfers the key over route “V” to destination system  413 . Thus, communication system  405  transfers “888” over route “V” to destination system  413 . In some examples, route “V” could be a switch/trunk. 
     FIG. 7  illustrates network call processor  406  and remote call processor  414  in an example of the invention. Network call processor  406  includes communication interface  721  and processing system  722 . Processing system  722  includes storage system  723 . Storage system  723  includes software  724 . Communication interface  721  and processing system  722  are linked together. Communication interface  721  is linked to communication system  405 . Network call processor  406  could be comprised of programmed general-purpose computer and conventional communications equipment, although those skilled in the art will appreciate that programmable or special purpose circuitry and equipment may be used. Network call processor  406  may use a client server architecture where operations are distributed among a server system and client devices that together comprise elements  721 - 724 . Based on this disclosure, those skilled in the art will appreciate how to modify and configure existing computer and communication systems to make network call processor  406 . Communication interface  721  is configured to receive query messages, transfer inquiry messages, receive response messages, and transfer response messages. Communication interface  721  could be conventional. Processing system  722  could comprise a computer microprocessor, logic circuit, or some other processing devices. Processing system  722  may be distributed among multiple processing devices. Storage system  723  could comprise a disk, tape, integrated circuit, server, or some other memory device. Storage system  723  may be distributed among multiple memory devices. Processing system  722  retrieves and executes software  724  from storage system  723 . Software  724  could comprise an application program, firmware, or some other form of machine-readable processing instructions. When executed by processing system  722 , software  724  directs processing system  722  to control remote call processor  406  operation as described above. 
   Remote call processor  414  includes communication interface  731  and processing system  732 . Processing system  732  includes storage system  733 . Storage system  733  includes software  734 . Communication interface  731  and processing system  732  are linked together. Communication interface  731  is linked to communication interface  721  and to destination systems  411 - 413 . Remote call processor  414  could be comprised of programmed general-purpose computer and conventional communications equipment, although those skilled in the art will appreciate that programmable or special purpose circuitry and equipment may be used. Remote call processor  414  may use a client server architecture where operations are distributed among a server system and client devices that together comprise elements  731 - 734 . Based on this disclosure, those skilled in the art will appreciate how to modify and configure existing computer and communication systems to make remote call processor  414 . Communication interface  731  is configured to receive inquiry messages and status information and transfer response messages. Communication interface  731  could be conventional. Processing system  732  could comprise a computer microprocessor, logic circuit, or some other processing devices. Processing system  732  may be distributed among multiple processing devices. Storage system  733  could comprise a disk, tape, integrated circuit, server, or some other memory device. Storage system  733  may be distributed among multiple memory devices. Processing system  732  retrieves and executes software  734  from storage system  733 . Software  734  could comprise an application program, firmware, or some other form of machine-readable processing instructions. When executed by processing system  732 , software  734  directs processing system  732  to control remote call processor  414  operation as described above.