Abstract:
A method for informing a caller of the availability of a call-center agent who can assist the caller without some of the disadvantages of the prior art is disclosed. In accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, when a caller accesses the address book in the memory of his or her telecommunications terminal (such as a telephone) the caller will see both the contact information for the call center and the availability of a call-center agent.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to telecommunications in general, and, more particularly, to telecommunications call centers. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     When a person has an issue with a product, the person often calls a call center that is associated with the enterprise that sold the product. These call centers are often reached by dialing a toll-free “1-800” number. 
     When the call center answers the call, the caller is usually presented with a menu of choices such as “Press 1 for English or press 2 for Spanish.” After the caller makes his or her choice, the caller is, after some wait, connected to a call-center agent. All too often the caller is kept on hold for an extended period of time. This usually only serves to aggravate the caller and tie up bandwidth for the call-center. 
     Often, after waiting on hold for an extended period of time, the caller is connected with a call-center agent who is unable to assist the caller with his or her problem. This only creates further frustration for the caller as the caller is then placed on hold again to wait for a call-center agent who can assist the caller with his or her problem. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a solution that informs a caller of the availability of a call-center agent who can assist the caller without some of the disadvantages of the prior art. 
     In accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, when a caller accesses the address book in the memory of his or her telecommunications terminal (such as a telephone) the caller will see both the contact information for the call center and the current availability of a call-center agent. This is accomplished by having the caller&#39;s telecommunications terminal send an inquiry via a data protocol to the call center when the contact information for the call center is accessed in the terminal&#39;s memory. 
     Upon receipt of the inquiry, which includes some indicium of the caller (or the caller&#39;s terminal), the call center selects a call-center agent that is appropriate for the caller. The call center then determines the selected call-center agent&#39;s availability and reports it back to the caller&#39;s terminal. The caller can elect to call the call center or not based on this information. 
     One advantage of the present invention is that the caller does not need to initiate a voice call to the call center in order to determine the availability of an appropriate call-center agent, the inquiry does not use call-center bandwidth reserved for voice calls. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  depicts a schematic diagram of the salient components of telecommunications system  100  in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  depicts a flowchart of the salient tasks associated with the operation of the illustrative embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  depicts a flowchart of the salient tasks associated with the operation of task  203  in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  depicts a flowchart of the salient tasks associated with the operation of task  204  in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  depicts a flowchart of the salient tasks associated with the operation of task  206  in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  depicts a schematic diagram of the salient components of telecommunications system  100  in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention. Telecommunications system  100  comprises: caller  101 , telecommunications terminal  102 , telecommunications network  103 , call center  104 , call-center agent  105 - 1 , and call-center agent  105 - 2 . 
     Although the illustrative embodiment comprises one caller, it will be clear to those skilled in the art, after reading this disclosure, how to make and use alternative embodiments of the present invention that comprise any number of callers. 
     Although the illustrative embodiment comprises one telecommunications terminal, it will be clear to those skilled in the art, after reading this disclosure, how to make and use alternative embodiments of the present invention that comprise any number of telecommunications terminals. 
     Although the illustrative embodiment comprises one call center, it will be clear to those skilled in the art, after reading this disclosure, how to make and use alternative embodiments of the present invention that comprise any number of call centers. 
     Although the illustrative embodiment comprises two call-center agents, it will be clear to those skilled in the art, after reading this disclosure, how to make and use alternative embodiments that comprise any number of call-center agents. 
     Although the illustrative embodiment depicts call-center agents  105 - 1  and  105 - 2  co-located with call center  104 , it will be clear to those skilled in the art, after reading this disclosure, how to make and use alternative embodiments of the present invention in one or more call-center agents are remotely connected to call center  104  through telecommunications network  103 . 
     Caller  101  is a person who desires to contact an enterprise for information regarding a product. In accordance with the illustrative embodiment, caller  101  contacts the enterprise via telecommunications terminal  102  by selecting the call center from an address book integrated into telecommunications terminal  102 , but it will be clear to those skilled in the art, after reading this disclosure, how to make and use alternative embodiments of the present invention in which the caller contacts the enterprise via another modality, such as, for example, and without limitation, dialing a number for call center  104 , instant messaging, short-message service, etc. 
     In accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, telecommunications terminal  102  is a wireless terminal (e.g., cell phone, personal digital assistant, iPhone, Blackberry, etc.), but it will be clear to those skilled in the art how to make and use telecommunications system  100  utilizing, for example and without limitation, mobile telecommunications terminals such as mobile telephones, private branch exchange extensions, personal computers, or any device capable of connecting to telecommunications network  103 . 
     Telecommunications network  103  is the Public Switched Telephone Network, but it will be clear to those skilled in the art, after reading this disclosure, how to make and use alternative embodiments of the present invention in which telecommunication network  103  is another network, for example and without limitation, the Internet, a private data network, a satellite network, etc. 
     Call center  104  is hardware and software for receiving a call from caller  101 , for communicating with caller  101 , and for coordinating communication with caller  101  and call-center agents  105 - 1  and  105 - 2 . In particular, call center  104  is capable of performing the functionality described below and with respect to  FIG. 2 . 
     Call-center agent  105 - 1  and call-center agent  105 - 2  are people who can assist caller  101  with regard to the product of interest. Each call-center agent has a different availability based on several factors, including, for example and without limitation: whether or not the call-center agent is assisting a different caller and the queue of callers to be processed. Although the call-center agents are called agents, it does not imply the existence or absence of a principal-agent relationship between the call-center agent and call center  104  or the enterprise selling the product. 
       FIG. 2  depicts a flowchart of the salient tasks associated with the operation of the illustrative embodiment of the present invention. 
     In accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, tasks  201 ,  202 ,  205 , and  206  are performed at telecommunications terminal  102 . However, it will be clear to one skilled in the art, after reading this disclosure how to make and use other implementations of the present invention in which the some or all of the steps are performed by another device, for example, and without limitation, call center  104 . 
     In accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, tasks  203  and  204  are performed at call center  104 . However, it will be clear to one skilled in the art, after reading this disclosure how to make and use other implementations of the present invention in which the steps are performed by another device, for example, and without limitation, telecommunications terminal  102 . 
     At task  201 , telecommunications terminal  102  transmits an indicium of a caller to a call center via a first communications mode. For the purposes of this specification, a “communication mode” is defined as: 
     i. voice, or 
     ii. text, or 
     iii. data, or 
     iv video, or 
     v. any combination of i, ii, iii, and iv. 
     In accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, this transmission would be initiated by the caller  101  accessing the memory of telecommunications terminal  102 . The caller would do this by opening an address book stored in telecommunications terminal  102 . It will be clear to one skilled in the art how to make and use embodiments of the present invention that perform task  201 . 
     The indicium comprises information such as, for example and without limitation, a telephone number of caller  101 , the name of caller  101 , an Internet Protocol address of telecommunications terminal  102 , the Media Access Control address (MAC address) of telecommunications terminal  102 , etc. It will be clear to one skilled in the art, after reading this disclosure, how to perform task  202  in which one or more of the comprised data is omitted from the first signal. In any event, it will be clear to one skilled in the art how to make and use embodiments of the present invention that perform task  202 . 
     Also in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, the indicium of the caller comprises that contact information of call center  104  exists in the memory of telecommunications terminal  102 . 
     Also in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, the first communications mode would be a data mode such as, for example and without limitation, e-mail, a short message service message, an instant message, a session initiation protocol message, etc. 
     At task  202 , telecommunications terminal  102  transmits a caller profile of caller  101 . 
     At task  203 , call center  104  chooses a call-center agent. 
     At task  204 , call center  104  transmits an indicium of the availability of the call-center agent. 
     At task  205 , telecommunications terminal  102  displays an indicium of the availability of the call-center agent. In accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, the indication will be a visual notification to caller  101  on the screen of telecommunications terminal  102 . It will be clear to one skilled in the art, after reading this disclosure, how to perform task  205  in which the indication to the caller can be, for example, and without limitation, an audio signal (such as ringing or a beep at telecommunications terminal  102 ), the activating of a light on telecommunications terminal  102 , etc. 
     At task  206 , telecommunications terminal  102  transmits a call to the call-center agent via a second communications mode. 
     It will be clear to one skilled in the art, after reading this disclosure how to make and use other implementations of the present invention in which one or more of the steps are omitted or are performed in a different order than the one presented or simultaneously. 
       FIG. 3  depicts a flowchart of the salient tasks associated with the operation of task  203  in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention. 
     At task  301 , call center  104  retrieves the caller profile of caller  101 . In accordance with the illustrative embodiment, the profile of caller  101  is accessed in the memory of call center  104  because of the information about caller  101  transmitted in the first signal. It will be clear to those skilled in the art, after reading this disclosure, how to make and use alternative embodiments of the present invention in which the profile of caller  101  is accessed in another way, for example and without limitation, by receiving a profile of caller  101  from telecommunications terminal the  102 . Accessing the profile of caller  101  enables call center  104  to obtain availability of a call-center agent at the call center. 
     At task  302 , call center  104  determines a first call-center agent based on the profile of the caller and indicium of the caller. In accordance with the illustrative embodiment of present invention, the profile of caller  101  is used to determine whether call-center agent  105 - 1  or call-center agent  105 - 2  is better suited to handle the issue that caller  101  wishes to discuss. For instance, the profile may have information such as, for example and without limitation, the language spoken by caller  101 , products purchased by caller  101 , information about previous calls made by caller  101 , etc. Also, accessing the profile enables call center  104  to prioritize service. For example one caller may be identified as a higher priority than another caller. The selection of the call-center agent would be an agent appropriate to assist caller  101 . 
     At task  303 , call center  104  determines a second call-center agent based on the caller profile and indicium of the caller. 
     At task  304 , call center  104  determines the call-center agent with greater availability. In accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, task  304  can be performed on a regular basis to determine the most available call-center agent at any given time. For example, and without limitation, call center  104  can check the availability of the appropriate call-center agents and determine the availability of the most available call-center agent appropriate to caller  101  at regular time intervals, such as every 30 seconds, every minute, every ten minutes, etc. 
     The availability of call-center agent  105 - 1  and call-center agent  105 - 2  is determined by the availability information received. Availability information is a status indicator that conveys ability and willingness of a potential communication partner—in this case, call-center agent  105 - 1  or call-center agent  105 - 2 —to communicate. 
     Availability information is information such as, for example, and without limitation, “available,” “busy,” “on a call,” “out,” etc. Availability can be different for different devices of the same call-center agent. For example, call-center agent  105 - 1  may be “on a call” with another person, but may still be available by instant message. The availability information is used to determine the availability of call-center agent  105 - 1  and call-center agent  105 - 2  for a call from caller  101 . In accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, one call-center agent may be “more available” than another call-center agent. It will be clear to one skilled in the art how to make and use embodiments of the present invention that perform task  304 . 
       FIG. 4  depicts a flowchart of the salient tasks associated with the operation of task  204  in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention. 
     At task  401 , call center  104  transmits an indicium of the availability of the appropriate call-center agent with the greater availability. 
     At task  402 , call center  104  transmits an indicium of the availability of the call-center agent selected, when the availability of the call-center agent has changed. In accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, task  402  can be performed on a continuous or period basis 
     For example, and without limitation, call center  104  can transmit the availability of the selected call-center agent to telecommunications terminal  102  at regular time intervals, such as every 30 seconds, every minute, every ten minutes, etc. Further in accordance with the illustrative embodiment, this can be performed on a “push” basis, in which no further input on the part of caller  101  is required to receive regular updates from call center  104 . 
       FIG. 5  depicts a flowchart of the salient tasks associated with the operation of task  206  in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention. 
     At task  501 , telecommunications terminal  102  determines whether the availability of the call-center agent meets a threshold. 
     In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, telecommunications terminal  102  will automatically connect when the availability of the most available call-center agent appropriate for caller  101  reaches a certain threshold. 
     In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, this determination is made by caller  101 . Having seen an indicium of the availability of the call-center agent, caller  101  decides whether or not to make a call to the call center. 
     At task  502 , telecommunications terminal  102  transmits a call to the call center via a second communications mode. In accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, the second communications mode would be an audio mode such as, for example and without limitation, a telephone call over the Public Switched Telephone Network, voice over Internet Protocol call, etc. It will be clear to one skilled in the art, after reading this disclosure how to perform task  502 . 
     It is to be understood that the disclosure teaches just one example of the illustrative embodiment and that many variations of the invention can easily be devised by those skilled in the art after reading this disclosure and that the scope of the present invention is to be determined by the following claims.