Patent Publication Number: US-2023143269-A1

Title: Limiting contact in a networked contact center environment

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This patent document pertains generally to call centers, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to limiting contact with a networked contact center. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Traditional contact centers are referred to as call centers, which are designed to enable a company to handle calls from their clients. The calls received from clients may be distributed to multiple call agents according to certain call distribution and handling methodologies. Ideally, a call center is designed to handle calls with minimal client waiting time, minimal dropped calls, even call distribution to agents, and minimal downtime. Any drastic fluctuations in one or more of these criteria may result in loss of business and/or customer satisfaction. 
     Traditional call centers are normally built to be operated on-premise using proprietary systems with proprietary hardware and software. These on-premise call center systems are generally very costly to maintain. The systems typically require support staff. Furthermore, the systems may be inflexible in the type of applications and hardware that can be supported, limiting the company&#39;s ability to upgrade and grow along with any potential increase in demand. Even when the upgrade options are available, they tend to be very costly and may require replacing a current system with another more advanced system, causing further stress to the supporting staff, the agents and the clients. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Some embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIG.  1    is a high level diagrammatic representation of an on-demand contact center, in accordance with an example embodiment; 
         FIG.  2    is a further diagrammatic representation of an on-demand contact center, in accordance with an example embodiment; 
         FIG.  3    is a block diagram illustrating a further network, including a networked contact center, organized into layers, in accordance with an example embodiment; 
         FIG.  4    is a flow diagram illustrating example actions performed by various on-demand contact center components in response to agent or customer contact, in accordance with to an example embodiment; 
         FIG.  5    is a block diagram showing an example network contact center, in accordance with an example embodiment; 
         FIG.  6    is a high-level entity relationship diagram illustrating various tables that may be maintained within the routing databases, in accordance with an example embodiment; 
         FIG.  7    is a graphical diagram showing example relationships between a communication identification (ID) and various communication layers in the networked contact center; 
         FIGS.  8  and  9    are charts showing example data structures, in accordance with an example embodiment; 
         FIG.  10    is a flow diagram showing an example method for limiting contact to a network contact center, in accordance with an example embodiment; 
         FIG.  11    is a flow diagram illustrating a further example method for examining a contact rate value, in accordance with an example embodiment; 
         FIG.  12    is a flow diagram showing an example method for determining whether a network contact center is to accept a communication based on a contact rate value, in accordance with an example embodiment; 
         FIG.  13    is a chart showing how sample buckets may be decremented and incremented, in accordance with an example embodiment; 
         FIG.  14    is a flow diagram showing yet a further example method for limiting contact with a network contact center, in accordance with an example embodiment; 
         FIG.  15    is a flow diagram showing yet a further example method for limiting contact with a network contact center, in accordance with an example embodiment; 
         FIG.  16    is a chart showing example commands generated by the contact regulation module to affect the front end contact policy, in accordance with an example embodiment; and 
         FIG.  17    is a block diagram showing an example machine, in accordance with an example embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Example embodiments may include a contact module to accept or deny voice calls at a networked contact center. Voice calls may have originated from a customer or a tenant may be directed to the tenant. When a call is received by the network contact system, a dialed number identification service (DNIS) or other identification (ID) service may be mapped to one of multiple platforms (e.g., within a platform layer of the networked contact center) that supports multiple tenants. In various example embodiments, the contact modules are to limit contact with the platform without any feedback from the platform. 
     Different layers of communication related to a platform (e.g., a DNIS layer, a tenant layer, a platform layer, a carrier layer and/or a site layer) may be associated with a bucket value that represents a number of calls that may be accepted within a specific time-interval. For each call, the contact modules may reference the bucket values to determine whether the call is to be allowed to reach the platform. After a call is allowed, bucket values may be decremented by a selected value. After a specific time interval, the bucket values may be incremented by a selected value. 
     In some example embodiments, the contact modules are to enforce a contact policy that is based on feedback from platforms. In an example embodiment, bucket values are adjusted based on feedback from platforms and the contact modules are to use the adjusted bucket values to determine whether a call is to be blocked or allowed to reach a platform. For some example embodiments, the time interval for incrementing bucket values may be adjusted to affect how the contact module enforces the contact policy. 
     The following detailed description includes references to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of the detailed description. The drawings show illustrations in accordance with example embodiments. These embodiments, which are also referred to herein as “examples,” are described in enough detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the present subject matter. The embodiments may be combined, other embodiments may be utilized, or structural, logical and electrical changes may be made without departing from the scope of what is claimed. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents. 
     In this document, the terms “a” or “an” are used, as is common in patent documents, to include one or more than one. In this document, the term “or” is used to refer to a nonexclusive or, such that “A or B” includes “A but not B,” “B but not A,” and “A and B,” unless otherwise indicated. Furthermore, all publications, patents, and patent documents referred to in this document are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety, as though individually incorporated by reference. In the event of inconsistent usages between this document and those documents so incorporated by reference, the usage in the incorporated reference(s) should be considered supplementary to that of this document; for irreconcilable inconsistencies, the usage in this document controls. 
     Contact Center 
       FIG.  1    is a block diagram showing an example networked contact center  100 , in accordance with an example embodiment.  FIG.  1    is shown to include a contact center  102  that is communicatively coupled with networks  104 , via transmission media  114 . Also communicatively coupled with the networks  104  via the transmission media  114  are machines  106 - 109 . One or more of the machines  106 - 109  may be used by call agents or call supervisors associated with a company (also referred to as a tenant). One or more of the machines  106 - 109  may be used by customers or potential customers of the company. 
     The networks  104  may be used to communicatively couple the contact center  102  with the machines  106 - 109 . In an example embodiment, networks  104  include the Internet and a public switched telephone network (PSTN). Other types of networks may be included within the networks  104  without departing from the claimed subject matter. The transmission media  114  may include any transmission media appropriate for supporting the networks  104 . In an example embodiment, the transmission media  114  may include one or more of optical fiber, twisted pairs and wireless media. Other transmission media not described may also be used. 
     Contact made between the contact center  102  and the various machines  106 - 109  may include various modes of communications (e.g., electronic communications) that may be digitally encoded, composed of analog signals and/or include a combination of digital and analog communication. Some example types of contact may include communications made via Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP), analog telephone, online chat, text messaging, electronic mail (email), video conferencing, screen sharing, web conferencing and file sharing, radio broadcast, etc. It is to be appreciated that example forms of communication are provided herein to illustrate types of contact and not to limit the meaning of contact to certain forms of communication. 
     The contact center  102  may perform various contact-related tasks (described in more detail below), on behalf of one or more tenants. The contact center  102  may be implemented in software, hardware or a combination of both software and hardware. The contact center  102  may comprise contact center machines (not shown) that execute instructions to perform the various contact related tasks (e.g., call distribution, call routing, call prioritizing, call transferring, etc.). One or more of the contact center machines may include interface hardware to communicate with the machines  106 - 109  via the transmission media  114  and the networks  104 . It may be noted that the number of customers, agents or supervisors (and e.g., machines used by the customers, agent and supervisors) that communicate with the contact center  102  may be significantly increased when the number of tenants supported by the contact center  102  also increases. One or more of the machines  106 - 109  may access data associated with the one or more tenants. The data may include, for example, tenant-specific call configuration, agents&#39; identification, supervisors&#39; identification, call recordings, call statistics, etc. For some example embodiments, there may be multiple instances of the same data that may be used as redundant data and for recovery purposes. 
     Tenant 
     A tenant is an entity (e.g., a company, an employer, team, division, department, or any other entity having agents and customers, etc.) that seeks to address contact made by other entities (e.g., customers, employees, associates, etc.) with which the tenant has a relationship. To help respond to such contact, an example tenant may use the contact center  102  to receive the contact, organize the contact, allocate the contact, transmit the contact and to perform other contact center related services for the benefit of the tenant. In addition to using the contact center  102 , a tenant may look to yet further entities (e.g., agents, consultants, business partners, etc.) to help address the various contact referred to above (e.g., contact from the customers, associates, etc.). 
     Entities such as, for example, agents and customers may transmit and/or receive communications using the machines  106 - 109 . The machines  106 - 109  may include interface hardware (not shown) and software to transmit and/or receive communications via the transmission media  114  to and/or from the networks  104  and the contact center  102 . It is to be noted that the machines  106 - 109  may represent different types of machines (e.g., personal computers (PCs), mobile devices, telephones or any other network device). In an example embodiment, an entity associated with the machine  106  is a tenant&#39;s agent and a different entity associated with the machine  108  is the tenant&#39;s customer. In various example embodiments, on behalf of the tenant, the agent using the machine  106  may communicate via the networks  104  and the contact center  102  with the customer that is using the machine  108 . 
     Contact Center Functional Modules 
       FIG.  2    is a block diagram illustrating a network  200 , in accordance with an example embodiment. The network  200  is shown to include an example networked contact center  202  communicatively coupled with agent machines  206  and  207  and customer machines  208 - 211  via the transmission media  214  of the Internet  204 . The example networked contact center  202  is further communicatively coupled with customer machines  212  and  213  via the transmission media  215  of the PSTN  205 . 
     Although the current example may illustrate customers and agents associated with one tenant, it is to be understood that the networked contact center  202  may be configured to support or host multiple tenants (and therefore may also be referred to as a hosted networked contact center or just a hosted contact center). For some example embodiments, the tenants may not need to install any call-distribution system on-premise. To host these multiple tenants, the networked contact center  202  may include multiple platforms and databases to store configurations specific to each tenant. The networked contact center  202  may also implement redundancy and recovery schemes to reduce system down time. 
       FIG.  3    is a block diagram illustrating a further network  300  including networked contact center  302  organized into layers, in accordance with an example embodiment. The networked contact center  302  may be substantially similar to the networked contact center  202  of  FIG.  2   . The networked contact centers  202  and  302  may be organized into multiple logical groups or layers. There may be a storage layer  304 , a platform layer  306  and a telephony layer  308 . For some example embodiments, the telephony layer  308  may be responsible for receiving calls that come into the networked contact centers  202  and  302 . Depending on the dialed number associated with the call, the telephony layer  308  distributes the call to an appropriate platform in the platform layer  306 . For some example embodiments, each platform in the platform layer  306  may be associated with one or more machines (also referred to as platform machines). Each platform machine (e.g., server) may support one or more tenants. 
     For some example embodiments, each tenant may be associated with two or more platforms. A first platform may be used for a tenant as an active platform, and one or more other platforms may be used for the tenant as an inactive platform that is available in the event the active platform becomes unavailable. A tenant may use multiple platforms as inactive platforms available to provide resources to the tenant in the case of a software failure, hardware failure or platform unavailability due to administrator activities, etc. Incoming calls distributed to a tenant may always be directed to the active platform unless the tenant is reconfigured to direct the incoming calls to an inactive platform. For some example embodiments, the inactive platform is operational and the active platform is operational, even when all calls are being processed by the active platform. This can be advantageous when there are problems with the active platform since switching the operations to the inactive platform may not cause too much delay in the call handlings associated with the tenant. The inactive platform may be re-classified as an active platform at the time operations are switched. 
     For some example embodiments, the multiple platforms in the platform layer  306  may share the same data in the storage layer  304 . The storage layer  304  may be associated with databases and associated database machines. The storage layer  304  may itself be partitioned into multiple images for redundancy and recovery and for efficient access. For some example embodiments, mappings may be used to relate a tenant on a particular platform to the tenant&#39;s data in the storage layer  304 . 
     Thus, the contact centers  102 ,  202  and  302  of  FIGS.  1 - 3    may include logic to receive calls, to determine to which of the multiple supported tenants the calls belong, to distribute the calls to the appropriate platform, and to determine where the data associated with the tenant may be found. 
     Using the organization described above, the contact centers  102 ,  202  and  302  may be easily upgraded and maintained with little or minimal impact to the tenant. For example, a tenant may be operating with an inactive platform while the active platform is upgraded from one software level to another software level. Once the upgrade is completed, operations may be switched back to the active platform. Similarly, because both the active platform and the inactive platform share the same data in the storage layer  304 , switching from the inactive platform to the active platform can be accomplished with minimal impact to the tenant and system availability. It may be noted that some calls may be affected during the switch; however, as is typical with telephone calls, the customers may re-dial or call the tenant again. It may be likely that the re-dialed calls may be received by the example contact center  102  after the switch is complete. 
     Referring to  FIG.  2   , platform machines  224 - 226  may be communicatively coupled with an extraction module  232  via communication channels  227 - 229 , respectively, and communication channel  230 . Platform machines  224 - 226  are further communicatively coupled to contact machine(s)  258 . The contact machine(s)  258  are communicatively coupled with the routing databases  268  via the communication channel  266 . 
     Platform management machine(s)  244  are shown to be communicatively coupled with configuration data location databases  252  via communication channel  250 , the tenant location database  247  via communication channel  249  and with the contact machine(s)  258  and platform machines  224 - 226 , respectively, via the communication channels  256  and  264 . The platform management machine(s)  244  are further shown to be communicatively coupled with the configuration module  236  via communication channel  242 , while the configuration module  236  is communicatively coupled with the extraction module  232  and the configuration data databases  240  via communication channels  234  and  238 , respectively. The machines and modules of  FIG.  2    are to be described in further detail with respect to  FIG.  4   , which follows. 
       FIG.  4    is a flow diagram  400  showing example actions performed by various components of a contact center for responding to agent or customer contact, in accordance with an example embodiment. In  FIG.  4   , each column represents a lane in which action(s) are carried out. Actions in lanes  404 ,  406 ,  408  and  410  may be performed by certain machines and/or modules shown in  FIG.  2   . It may be noted that a module may represent software, hardware and/or a combination of software and hardware used to implement logical constructions and/or to process instructions. Although shown in separate lanes, one module may be included in, or composed of, one or more of the other modules. 
     The flow diagram  400  may begin at block  412  with an agent or customer submitting an indicator associated with a tenant along with an initiation of communication. In  FIG.  2   , the customer machine  212  is shown to include a telephonic interface  219  (e.g., a telephone with a handset). In an example embodiment, a customer seeking customer support from a tenant dials a tenant&#39;s phone number on a telephone to place a call (e.g., initiation of communication) to the contact center over the PSTN. In an example embodiment, the telephone number itself serves as an indicator of the tenant whose attention is sought by the customer. 
     Referring to  FIG.  2   , the customer machine  208  is shown to include a network interface  203  (e.g., a web browser) with which a customer may, for example, submit a chat request to the networked contact center  202  over the Internet to receive, for example, technical support from a tenant. An agent of the tenant or a contact supervisor may also contact the tenant. In an example embodiment, an agent using the agent machine  206  uses the network interface  201  to log on to an agent network server hosted by the networked contact center  202  to notify the networked contact center  202  that the agent is available to be contacted by customers. In some example embodiments, the agent may use the voice interface  217  to speak with a customer or another agent. 
     In various example embodiments, the indicator submitted at block  412  of  FIG.  4    is received by the contact machines(s)  258  of  FIG.  2   . In  FIG.  2   , the contact machine(s)  258  are shown to include a routing module  262  and a contact limiting module  260 . The routing module  262  may route contacts to a certain platform depending on the tenant indicated by the indicator (e.g., a phone number, username/password or any other indicator designating a tenant). The example contact limiting module  260  may regulate incoming contact with the networked contact center  202 . 
     At block  414 , the routing module  262  within the contact machines  258  of  FIG.  2    may determine a platform upon which the tenant is supported based on the indicator received from the agent or customer at block  412 . In an example embodiment, in  FIG.  2   , the routing module  262  accesses the routing databases  268  via communication channel  266  to associate an indicator with a tenant and a platform. In some example embodiments, the contact machine(s)  258  submit a request, via the communication channel  256  to the platform management machine(s)  244  to determine a platform associated with the indicator (e.g., and a tenant corresponding to the indicator). 
     At decision block  416 , the example flow diagram  400  includes the example contact limiting module  260  within the contact machines  258  of  FIG.  2    determining whether to allow the initiation of communication (e.g., a telephone call from a customer) to be routed to a platform (e.g., the platform machine(s)  224 ). 
     The contact limiting module&#39;s  260  determination of whether to allow the initiation of communication may include referencing a current allowance of contact or communication (e.g., a bucket value, described in more detail below) to be received by a particular communication layer or platform (e.g., within the platform machines  224 ) in a fixed period of time. In some example embodiments, each platform may vary a maximum allowance of contact for a period of time or vary the period of time based on an availability of platform resources. In some example embodiments, when contact directed to a platform is received by the contact machines  258  and the current allowance is less than or equal to zero, the contact limiting module  260  may reject initiation of the communication as shown in block  417  of  FIG.  4   . When the contact directed to the platform is received by the contact machines  258  and the current allowance is greater than or equal to one, the contact limiting module  260  may allow the initiation of communication to be routed to the platform as shown between blocks  416  and  418  of  FIG.  4   . 
     Alternatively or additionally, determination of whether to allow the initiation of communication may be made by a platform at block  418  after the contact limiting module has allowed the initiation of communication to be routed to the platform at block  416 . In various example embodiments, a platform may reject the initiation of communication based on availability of platform resources or other conditions warranting a rejection. Such a rejection is represented by block  417 . 
     In an example embodiment, in  FIG.  2   , a platform may allow the initiation of communication from the contact machines(s)  258 . Example resource module(s)  270  located on the platform machine  224  and located on the other platform machines  225 - 226 , may include various modules that provide services for multiple tenants. Example resource module(s)  270  may include interaction routers, interactive voice recordings, scripting, agent network server, media control and other contact center related services, etc. 
     In an example embodiment, the initiation of communication is a voice call from a customer seeking help with installing a water heater; the tenant is in the business of providing technical support for refrigerator installations and water heater installations. The tenant employs some agents who address questions about refrigerator installations while the tenant&#39;s other agents address questions about water heater installations. 
     At block  418 , the flow diagram  400  includes the resource module(s)  270  of  FIG.  2    allowing the initiation of communication and generating a request for data associated with a tenant, based on the initiation of communication. In the appliance installation example, the resource module(s)  270  request tenant data to be used to teleprompt the customer, prompting the customer to press  1  on their telephone dial for refrigerator installation support or to press  2  for water heater installation support. 
     Example platform machine(s)  224 ,  225  and  226  in  FIG.  2    may initially request the data associated with the tenant from the extraction module  232  and the configuration module  236 . In an example embodiment, to locate data for data access, the resource module(s)  270  may use a different addressing system than the configuration module  236  uses to locate and access the same data. In some example embodiments, the extraction module  232  translates requests from the platform machine(s)  224 ,  225 ,  226  to allow the configuration module  236  to understand the request. The configuration module  236  may access the requested data in the configuration data databases  240  and relay the requested data to the resource module(s)  270  on a set of platform machine(s) (e.g., platform machine(s)  224 ) via the extraction module  232 . 
     The configuration module  236  may not initially locate the requested data in the configuration data databases  240 . In some example embodiments, the configuration module  236  may request the location of the requested data from the data location module  246  that may be located within the platform management machine(s)  244 . 
     At block  420 , the flow diagram  400  may include the data location module  246  of  FIG.  2    providing the location of the requested data (e.g., the location within the configuration data databases  240 ) to the configuration module  236 . The configuration module  236  may then access the requested data to provide it to the resource module(s)  270  via the extraction module  232 . 
     At block  422  of the flow diagram  400 , the example resource module(s)  270  of  FIG.  2    receive access to the requested data (e.g. tenant data). With access to the particular tenant data, an example resource module  270  may generate a particular response to the initiation of communication received from the agent or customer. 
     At block  424  of the flow diagram  400 , the resource module(s)  270  of  FIG.  2    respond to the initiation of the communication based on the data (e.g., the tenant data). The agent or customer that initiated communication may receive the response where the flow ends at terminal  426 . In the appliance installation support example, the response to the initiation at terminal  426  may be the tenant&#39;s teleprompter asking the customer to indicate the nature of the call. 
     Contact Limiter 
       FIG.  5    is a block diagram showing a further example network contact center  500 , in accordance with an example embodiment. The network contact center  500  is shown to include the platform machines  502  communicatively coupled to platform management machines  510  via communication channel  508 . The platform management machines  510  are shown to be communicatively coupled with contact machines  518  via the communication channel  532 . The platform management machines  510  are shown to be communicatively coupled to a limit capacity database  516  via the communication channel  514 , while the contact machines  518  are shown to be communicatively coupled to the routing databases  538  via the communication channels  536 . The platform machines  502 , the platform management machines  510  and the contact machines  518  may be substantially similar to the platform machines  224 - 226  in  FIG.  2   , the platform management machines  244  and contact machines  258 . 
     The contact machines  518  are shown to include a routing module  530  and contact limiting modules  520 . The routing module  530  is to receive incoming network communication  540  and determine a tenant associated with the incoming network communications  540 . 
     The contact limiting modules  520  are shown to include a decrement module  522 , a limiter  524 , an initialization module  526  and an increment module  528 . The limiter  524  is to access the routing databases  538  via the communication channel  536  to determine whether the network contact center (e.g., specifically whether a tenant and corresponding, platform within a cluster of platforms) has capacity to accept an incoming network communication  540 . 
     In various example embodiments, the contact limiting modules  520  may be referred to as front-end limiting modules at least in part because the contact limiting modules  520  may limit contact with the platform machines  502  (e.g., including back-end modules discussed in further detail below) such as by allowing or denying contact and in the example case of denying contact, generating a rejection message  542  in response to incoming network communication  540 . 
     In some example embodiments, each communication layer may be thought of as having a bucket of contact parameter values (e.g., call rate values). An example call may be accepted if a bucket corresponding to a communication layer currently has a contact parameter value that is greater than zero, which may indicate a maximum number of calls to be allowed over the communication layer within a fixed period of time. It may be noted that the contact parameter value may be adjusted based on various factors discussed below. 
     The limiter  524  may generate a rejection message based on determining that an incoming network communication  540  is not to be routed to the platform machines  502 . In an example embodiment the rejection message  542  is transmitted to the source of incoming network communication  540 . 
     The routing databases  538  may include a data structure to store contact parameter values referenced by the limiter  524  to determine whether the incoming network communication  540  should be routed to the platform machines  502 . For some example embodiments, the routing databases  538  include data structures, such as tables that the limiter  524 , may select to store active contact parameter values. In various example embodiments, a contact parameter value includes a contact rate value that defines a quantity of network communications that the network contact center  500  may accept within a specific quantity of time. For some example embodiments, contact parameter values may define a frequency with which other contact parameter values are updated (e.g., incremented as described in more detail below). 
     In some example embodiments, a decrement module  522  is to access the routing databases  538  to decrement a contact parameter value by one or more units when the limiter  524  allows an incoming network communication  540  associated with a particular tenant to be routed to the platform machines  502 . The increment module  528  may increment contact parameter values within the data structures of the routing databases  538 . For some example embodiments, as will be described further, the increment module  528  increments a contact parameter value by a specific number of units within a specific time interval after a call is accepted. 
     The platform machines  502  are shown to include an event monitor  504  and a contact regulation module  506  (e.g., the back-end contact regulation module). The event monitor  504  may monitor events associated with network contact occurring on the platform machines  502 . Example events may include contact statistics, system resource events or other activity that may be related to or be affected by network communication on the platform machines  502 . Some example event monitors  504  monitor levels associated with operation of resource modules  270 , running on the platform machine(s)  224 , both of  FIG.  2   . 
     The contact regulation module  506  may subscribe to statistics associated with certain events that may be kept by the event monitor  504  and the contact regulation module  506  may monitor the statistics generated by the event monitor  504 . The contact regulation module  506  may analyze information from the event monitor  504  to detect indications of resource overload related to incoming network communication  540  to the platform machines  502 . In some example embodiments, when the contact regulation module  506  detects certain levels of activity within the platform machine(s)  502 , it may vary contact parameters, generate commands and transmit commands to the limit capacity module  512  to regulate contact. 
     In some example embodiments, the limit capacity database  516  includes a data structure that is substantially similar to the data structures located within the routing databases  538 . In some example embodiments, at system startup, the initialization module  526  may access the example data structure within the limit capacity database  516  and copy the example data structure to the routing databases  538  to establish initial contact parameter values. 
     As disclosed above, the limiter  524  may be referred to as a front-end limiter  524  while the contact regulation module  506  may be referred to as a back-end contact regulation module  506 . The back-end contact regulation module  506  may monitor events on the platform machines  502  and make changes to contact parameter values within the database  516  based on the events. In an example embodiment, a change to a contact parameter value may result in allowing an increased contact rate, a decreased and/or stopping all incoming contact. The adjusted contact parameter values, however may not affect the limiter&#39;s  524  acceptance or rejection of incoming network communication  540  until the contact regulation module  506  sends a particular command to the limiter  524  via the communication channel  534 . In various example embodiments, certain commands may cause the limiter  524  to replace one or more contact parameter values within the routing databases  538  with the adjusted contact parameter values from the limit capacity database  516 . 
     With regard to the limit capacity database  516 , the contact regulation module  506  may send commands to the limit capacity module to vary one or more contact parameter values within the limit capacity database  516 , based on events occurring on the back-end platform machines  502 . In an example embodiment, the contact regulation module  506  may adjust contact limiting on the front end by sending further commands to the limiter  524  to vary one more contact parameter values within the routing databases  538 . For example, the contact regulation module  506  may send a command to the limiter  524  of the contact machines  518  to copy the data structure within the limit capacity database  516 , which may have been varied by the contact regulation module  506 . 
     In an example embodiment, the limiter  524  may deactivate the replaced contact parameter values so they are not referenced when the contact limiter  524  determines whether to accept an incoming network communication  540 ; and activate the adjusted contact parameter values so that they are considered when the contact limiter determines whether to accept the incoming network communication  540 . 
       FIG.  6    is a high-level entity relationship diagram, illustrating various tables  600  that may be maintained within the routing databases, in accordance with an example embodiment. The tables  600  are shown to include a DNIS table  602 , type table  604 , a name table  606 , a counter table  608 , an index table  610  and a route table  612 . In an example embodiment, the limiter  524  of  FIG.  5    may access the tables  600  to determine whether incoming network communication  540  should be routed to the platform machines  502 . The contact regulation module  506  may access substantially similar tables  600  within the limit capacity database  516  in  FIG.  5   . 
       FIG.  7    is a graphical diagram showing example relationships  700  between a DNIS and various communication layers in the networked contact center  500  of  FIG.  5   . Each communication layer may relate to a corresponding contact parameter value and a time interval for which the contact parameter applies. In example embodiments, the time interval value is a configurable number of seconds and a contact parameter value may include a call rate value. Referring to  FIG.  7   , a DNIS  702  may receive two calls for every time interval, a tenant  704  may receive five calls per time interval, a platform  706  may receive  20  calls per time interval, a cluster  708  may receive  20  calls per time interval, a site  710  may receive  100  calls per time interval and a carrier  712  may receive  500  calls per time interval. 
     In an example embodiment, the route ID  714  is an ID number associated with a particular platform. For example, platform resources such as voice machines running on the resource modules  270  of  FIG.  2    may correspond with the route ID  714 .  FIGS.  8  and  9    are charts showing example data structures  800  and  900 , in accordance with an example embodiment. The tables  600  in  FIG.  6    may be used by the limiter  524  in  FIG.  5    to implement a data structure  800  of  FIG.  8    and the data structure  900  of  FIG.  9   . 
     Referring to  FIG.  6   , the DNIS table  602  may include a list of DNIS numbers associated with tenants supported by a platform. The type table  604  may associate each communication layer with a type index. For example, in  FIG.  8   , a tenant corresponds to type two as shown in columns  805 - 806 , while a platform corresponds to type three a shown in column  807 . The name table  606  includes a name for each communication layer. For example, in the data structure  800  the name of DNIS  3  in column  804  is 1-800-111-3333, the name of tenant  2  in column  805  is portishead and the name of tenant  2  in column  806  is morcheeba. The counter table  608  may associate a contact parameter value with each communication layer. For example, DNIS  2  in column  803  shows that  50  calls to that number may be received within the given time interval and cluster  1  in column  808  shows that  1000  calls may be received by cluster  1  within the given time interval. The index table  610  is to associate a communication layer with the layer above it, if any. For example DNIS  1  in column  802  of  FIG.  8    shows parent index  4  which corresponds to tenant  2  in column  806 . 
     The data structure  900  is to associate a route ID with a platform (e.g., a platform resource running on a platform machine). The data structure  900  may be referenced to determine whether a network and incoming network communication will be allowed to access a particular platform.  FIGS.  8  and  9    are to be discussed in further detail with respect to  FIGS.  13  and  14   . 
       FIG.  10    is a flow diagram showing an example method  1000  for limiting contact to a network contacts center, in accordance with an example embodiment. The example method may be implemented by the limiter  524  of  FIG.  5   . At block  1002 , the method  1000  may include receiving a communication associated with a tenant at the network contact center. As disclosed above with respect to  FIG.  5   , the contact limiting modules  520  including the limiter  524  may receive incoming network communications  540  from a customer or agent. Although the example embodiment is presently disclosed in reference to a voice call it may be noted that incoming network communication  540  may include a chat communication, an e-mail communication or any other electronic communication without departing from the present subject matter. 
     At block  1004 , the example method  1000  includes examining a first contact rate value associated with a tenant, responsive to receiving the communication. For some example embodiments, the first contact rate value may represent a quantity of contact within a first time interval. In various example embodiments, the limiter  524  of  FIG.  5    is to access the routing databases  538  to access the tables  600  of  FIG.  6   . In accessing the tables, the limiter  524  may associate the incoming DNIS in the table  602  of  FIG.  6    with a contact rate value within the counter table  608 . In some example embodiments, the limiter  524  is to determine whether an incoming communication shall be routed to the platform machines  502  of  FIG.  5    based on multiple contact rate values corresponding to the communication layers disclosed above. The limiter  524  may access the parent index table  610  of  FIG.  6    to determine the communication layer above the DNIS communication layer. A corresponding tenant maybe then associated with a contact rate value by referencing the counter table  608 . 
     At block  1006 , the method  1000  may include determining whether the network contact center is to accept the communication based on the first contact rate as explained above with respect to  FIG.  5   . 
     For some example embodiments, the limiter  524  of  FIG.  5    may determine that the networked contact center  500  is to accept an incoming network communication  540  and based on accepting the network communication  540  the decrement module  522  is to access the counter table  608  of  FIG.  6    to decrement a contact parameter value (e.g., such as a contact rate value) for each communication layer. 
     In example embodiments, the increment module  528  of  FIG.  5    increments the contact rate value by a quantity after the passage of a selected time interval. In one example embodiment, the time interval is two seconds. The quantity may be based on a percentage of a maximum allowable quantity of contact with a particular communication layer in a given period of time. 
     In some example embodiments, the limiter  524  of  FIG.  5    is to reject incoming network communication  540  and to generate a rejection message  542  to be transmitted to the source of the incoming network communication  540 . The rejection message sent to the source of incoming network communication  540  may be a SIP message (e.g., error  486  “busy here” if the phone number is recognized and error  503  “service unavailable” if the phone number is unrecognized). 
       FIG.  11    is a flow diagram illustrating an example method  1100  for examining a contact rate value, in accordance with an example embodiment. The method  1100  may be a sub-method of block  1004  of  FIG.  10   . At block  1102 , the method  1100  may include receiving a DNIS at a networked contact center. 
     At decision block  1104 , the example method  1100  may include determining whether the DNIS bucket e.g., the contact rate value is greater than zero. Referring to  FIG.  8   , column  802  may be taken as an example for the DNIS 1 . The counter for DNIS 1  may be determined to be  10 , which is greater than zero. In other example embodiments that bucket value may be less that zero. 
     The example method  1100  may continue at block  1106  at which a reject flag is set to true in the example embodiment if the DNIS bucket is greater than zero. 
     The method may continue at decision block  1108  in which it is determined whether a tenant bucket is greater than zero. In  FIG.  8   , for the DNIS 1  in column  802 , it is shown that a parent index is four which leads to tenant  2  in column  806 , which has an index of four. In an example embodiment, decision block  1108  includes determining whether the tenant  2  in column  806  has a bucket or counter value greater than zero. As shown in column  806 , the counter for the tenant  2  is  40  which is greater than zero. Had the counter or bucket not been greater than zero, the example method  1100  would continue at block  1106  where the rejection flag is set to true when a tenant bucket is not greater than zero. 
     The method may proceed to decision block  1110  in which it is determined whether a platform bucket is greater than zero. In  FIG.  8   , column  806 , it can be seen that the parent index for the tenant  2  is five which leads to column  807  where the platform  1  has an index of five. If the platform  1  bucket was not greater than zero, the method may continue at block  1106  in which a reject flag is set to true if the platform bucket is not greater than zero. If the platform  1  bucket is greater than zero, the method name continues at block  1112  at which it is determined whether a cluster bucket is greater than zero. 
     The method  1100  continues, as described above, until a last site bucket at decision block  1114  is examined. If the site bucket at decision block  1114  is determined to be greater than zero, the example method  1100  may conclude at block  1116  with a reject flag set to false. If the site bucket is not greater than zero at decision block  1114 , the method may conclude at block  1106  with a reject flag being set to true. 
       FIG.  12    is a flow diagram of an example method  1200  for determining whether a networked contact center is to accept a communication based on a contact rate value, in accordance with an example embodiment. An incoming network communication may include a DNIS and an IP ID. The DNIS may correspond to a particular tenant and the IP ID may correspond to a particular platform resource that may also be associated with a tenant. An example platform resource may include a voice machine that may automatically process incoming calls from a customer. The example method  1200  may be a sub-method of block  1006  of  FIG.  10   . 
     At block  1202 , the example method  1200  includes determining whether an IP ID exists in a communication. If an IP ID does not exist, the block  1204  may include rejecting a call with a SIP message  1204  (e.g., error  486 ), which may result in a busy signal at the caller&#39;s receiver. If it is determined at decision block  1202  that an IP ID does exist, at the decision block  1206  it may be determined whether a reject flag is true. The determination in decision block  1206  may include determining whether a reject flag was set to true in block  1106  of  FIG.  11   . 
     If the reject flag is determined at decision block  1206  to be set to true, block  1208  may include rejecting a call with a specific SIP error message. In various example embodiments, the specific SIP message depends on whether a phone number or DNIS is recognized or not. If the phone number is recognized the call may be rejected with SIP error message  486  but if the call is not recognized the call may be rejected with an error  503  SIP message. 
     If it is determined at decision block  1206  that the reject flag is not set to true, the decision block  1210  may include determining whether an IP bucket is greater than zero. Referring to  FIGS.  5   , band columns  902 - 905  of  FIG.  9   , the limiter  524  of  FIG.  5    may reference the counter table  608  of  FIG.  6    to determine that  10 , 000  calls may be received in specific time interval. In such examples where it is determined at decision block  1210  that the IP bucket is greater than zero, a call may be accepted at block  1212 , otherwise a call may be rejected at block  1208  as previously described. 
       FIG.  13    is a chart  1300  showing how sample buckets may be decremented and incremented, in accordance with an example embodiment. Column  1302  may represent buckets before a networked contact center has received a call, as reflected by time equaling zero seconds (T=0 s), time and each of the buckets (e.g., DNIS bucket, the tenant bucket, the platform bucket, the cluster bucket, the site bucket and the carrier bucket) being set at initial maximum values. 
     A call may be accepted (e.g., by the limiter  524  of  FIG.  5   ) at T=1 s because there are no empty buckets as shown in column  1302 . Column  1304  shows each bucket after being decremented by one. A further call may be accepted at T=2 s because there are no empty buckets as shown in column  1304 . In Column  1306 , each of the buckets is shown to have been decremented by one when the call was accepted at T=2 s. 
     It may be noted that buckets are incremented at specific time intervals. In the example embodiment illustrated by a chart  1300 , the specific time interval is two seconds. In an example embodiment, the increment module  528  of  FIG.  5   , after a two-second interval, may calculate 10% of a maximum value in column  1302  and add it to the current bucket value in column  1308 . The increment module  528  may for example add  50  to the current carrier bucket (e.g.,  498 ) to arrive at an incremented value of  548 , which is shown in column  1308 . The increment module  528  may then round up the bucket value or set the bucket value to its maximum value as shown in column  1310 , where the carrier value has been set at  500 . 
       FIG.  14    is a flow diagram showing an example method  1400  for limiting contact with networked contact center, in accordance with an example embodiment. 
     At block  1402 , the method  1400  may include storing a first contact rate value in the first data structure and storing a second contact rate value in a second data structure. Referring to  FIG.  5   , a first and second data structure may be stored in the routing databases  538 . In various example embodiments, the initialization module  526  is to copy values into the data structures from the limit capacity database  516  at a time of system startup. 
     At block  1404 , the example method  1400  may include designating the first contact rate value as being active for determining whether to accept the communication and the second contact rate value as being inactive for determining whether to accept the communication. The limiter  524  of  FIG.  5    may designate one of the data structures as being active to be referenced or accessed for a contact rate or multiple contact rates, while the other of the data structures may be considered inactive. 
     At block  1406 , the example method  1400  includes replacing the second contact value with a third contact rate value. For some example embodiments, the contact regulation module  506  of  FIG.  5    is to send commands to the contact limiting modules  520  to cause the limiter  524  to copy contact rate values within the data structure of the limit capacity database  516  into data structures of the routing databases  538 . The contact regulation module  506  may do so based on analyzing statistics from the event Monitor  504 . Adjusting contact rate values may be seen as a tuning of front end contact limiting and may improve overall performance of the platform machines  502  all as shown in  FIG.  5   . 
     Block  1408  of the example method  1400  may include designating the third contact rate value as being active for determining whether to accept the communication and the first contact rate value as being inactive. It may be noted that the first second and third contact rate values each represent a quantity of contact within a particular time interval. The limiter  524 , after having copied contact rate values from the limit capacity database  516  to the routing databases  538 ; all as shown in  FIG.  5   , may designate the new or adjusted contact rate values to be active and from there on, the limiter  524  may access the adjusted contact rate value or values. 
     The contact regulation module  506  may not only send commands to the contact limiting modules  520  to replace contact rate values in the routing databases  538  but may also send commands to the contact limiting modules  520  to change the time interval that the increment module  528 , all as shown in  FIG.  5   , increments bucket values in the counter table  608  of  FIG.  6    within the routing databases  538 . 
       FIG.  15    is a flow diagram showing an example method  1500  for limiting contact with a network contact center, in accordance with an example embodiment. For some example embodiments, the example method  1500  may be implemented by the contact regulation module  506  and the event monitor  504  of  FIG.  5   . 
     At block  1502 , the example method  1500  includes monitoring communication events on a platform that is associated with a plurality of tenants. As described above, the contact regulation module  506  may subscribe to various statistics captured by the event Monitor  504  of  FIG.  5   . 
     At block  1504 , the example method  1500  may include determining that a first contact policy has been violated, based on the monitoring of the communication event. The example contact regulation module  506 , in its analysis of subscribed statistics from the event monitor  504  may determine that the events occurring on the platform machines  502  exceed some threshold and is not in conformance with a back-end contact policy defined for the platform machines  502  all as shown in  FIG.  5   . 
     At block  1506 , the example method  1500  may include generating a contact parameter value (e.g., a contact rate value) for a second contact policy based on determining that the first contact policy has been violated. The contact regulation module  506  of  FIG.  5   , in determining that a back-end contact policy has been violated may make a change to the front end contact policy by adjusting a value in the front end contact policy by writing that value to the limit capacity database  516  through the limit capacity module  512 , both of  FIG.  5   , an example embodiment, a change made to a contact parameter of the first contact policy may include a change in a contact rate such as a bucket value or a change in an incrementing interval or any other contact related parameters. 
     At block  1508 , the example method  1500  may include applying the parameter to the second contact policy. As noted, the contact regulation module  506  of  FIG.  5    may send various commands to the contact limiting modules  520  of  FIG.  5    to affect the contact policy implemented by the contact limiting modules  520 . In some example embodiments, the contact regulation module  506  may command the contact limiting modules  520  to block all incoming calls after determining that resources on the platform machines  502  have reached a particular capacity. 
       FIG.  16    is a chart showing example commands  1600  generated by the contact regulation module to affect the front-end contact policy, in accordance with an example embodiment. In an example embodiment, the commands are SIP commands. In column  1602 , the command reloadBucket may cause the limiter  524  of  FIG.  5    to reset corresponding buckets with values extracted from the limit capacity database  516  of  FIG.  5   . The setBucket command may cause the limiter  524  to update a specific bucket within the tables  600  of  FIG.  6    with the value provided in column  1606 . As described above, the contact regulation module  506  may use the above commands to vary contact rates or stop further contact to the networked contact center  500 . In an example embodiment in which contact has been stopped, the contact regulation module  506  may resume contact if it determines that contact policy allows it. The setInterval command of Column  1602  may cause the limiter  524  to reset the increment module  528  of  FIG.  5    to increment bucket values according to the value provided in column  1604 . 
     Computer System 
       FIG.  17    shows a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the example form of a computer system  1700  within which a set of instructions for causing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein may be executed. In alternative embodiments, the machine operates as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, the machine may operate in the capacity of a server or a client machine in a server-client network environment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. The machine may be a server computer, a client computer, a PC, a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. Further, while only a single machine is illustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include any collection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. 
     The example computer system  1700  includes a processor  1704  (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU) or both), a main memory  1710  and a static memory  1714  which communicate with each other via a bus  1708 . The computer system  1700  may further include a video display unit  1702  (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system  1700  also includes an alphanumeric input device  1712  (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor control device  1716  (e.g., a mouse), a drive unit  1720 , a signal generation device  1740  (e.g., a speaker) and a network interface device  1718 . 
     The disk drive unit  1720  includes a machine-readable medium  1722  on which is stored one or more sets of instructions  1724  (e.g., software) embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. The instructions  1724  may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory  1710  and/or within the processor  1704  during execution thereof by the computer system  1700 , the main memory  1710  and the processor  1704  also constituting machine-readable media. 
     The instructions  1724  may further be transmitted or received over a network  1730  via the network interface device  1718 . 
     While the machine-readable medium  1722  is shown in an example embodiment to be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term “machine-readable medium” shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution by the machine and that causes the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies of the present subject matter. The term “machine-readable medium” shall accordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, optical and magnetic media and carrier wave signals. 
     The above description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. For example, the above-described embodiments (or one or more aspects thereof) may be used in combination with each other. Other embodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. The scope of the claims should, therefore, be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. In the appended claims, the terms “including” and “in which” are used as the plain-English equivalents of the respective terms “comprising” and “wherein.” Also, in the following claims, the terms “including” and “comprising” are open-ended, that is, a system, device, article, or process that includes elements in addition to those listed after such a term in a claim are still deemed to fall within the scope of that claim. Moreover, in the following claims, the terms “first,” “second,” and “third,” etc. are used merely as labels, and are not intended to impose numerical requirements on their objects. 
     The Abstract is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. § 1.72(b), which requires that it allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. Also, in the above Detailed Description, various features may be grouped together to streamline the disclosure. This should not be interpreted as intending that an unclaimed disclosed feature is essential to any claim. Rather, inventive subject matter may lie in less than all features of a particular disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment.