Patent ID: 8254555

Claim:
A method for managing inbound calls and outbound calls for a specific agent of a call center, the method comprising the steps of: (a) determining whether the specific agent is available to handle an inbound call or an outbound call; (b) detecting, by a telephony server, whether a received inbound call by the call center from a caller is available for the specific agent to handle; and (c) after determining the specific agent is available and detecting there is no received inbound call available for the specific agent to handle: (1) associating the specific agent, by the telephony server, with a plurality of outbound calls placed from the call center to a plurality of called parties; (2) after detecting one of the plurality of outbound calls has been answered and the specific agent is still available, routing the one of the plurality of outbound calls to the specific agent to handle; and (3) detecting, by the telephony server, a subsequent inbound call has been received by the call center from a further caller following the step of associating the specific agent with the plurality of outbound calls; (4) after detecting the subsequent inbound call, determining whether the specific agent is available; (5) routing the subsequent inbound call to the specific agent to handle if the specific agent is available; (6) placing the subsequent inbound call in a queue associated with the specific agent if the specific agent is not available; and (7) after routing the subsequent inbound call to the specific agent and while the specific agent is handling the subsequent inbound call: (a) detecting, by the telephony server, a subsequent outbound call of the plurality of outbound calls that has been answered; and (b) placing the subsequent outbound call in the queue associated with the specific agent if the specific agent is not available.