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EP-4075775-B1 - ON-DEMAND CONTACT CENTER ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION SYSTEM AND METHOD

EP4075775B1EP 4075775 B1EP4075775 B1EP 4075775B1EP-4075775-B1

Inventors

  • Braganza, Jonathan
  • Sharma, Nishu
  • LEE, KEVIN
  • MOMBOURQUETTE, DARREN
  • KEFFORD, Timothy

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20220412

Claims (13)

  1. A communication method comprising the steps of: using an agent registration system, registering one or more agents (202); using a customer device, initiating a communication (204); using a presence system, determining a presence of the one or more agents (206); using an agent scoring system, determining a score for each of the one or more present agents (208), wherein determining the score comprises determining a wait time for each of the one or more present agents; providing agent score information to the customer device (210); using an agent filter system, filtering one or more agents from a connection to the communication, wherein the agent filter system allows one or more agents to manually or automatically decline to be connected to the communication based on one or more requirements of a task associated with the communication; using the agent filter system, dynamically adjusting the process of filtering agents based on feedback from agents, wherein dynamically adjusting the process of filtering agents comprises adjusting the requirements for the task based on the feedback, and wherein the feedback from each of the one or more present agents is used in determining the score for that agent; using the customer device, selecting an agent based on the determined score (212); and connecting the agent to the communication.
  2. The communication method of claim 1, further comprising a step of determining whether each present agent had a prior communication with the user.
  3. The communication method of any preceding claim, further comprising presenting agent information to the user, the agent information comprising an agent identifier, a wait time, and a score corresponding to the agent and optionally wherein the step of presenting agent information comprises presenting agent information for up to a preselected number of agents.
  4. The communication method of any preceding claim, further comprising tracking an amount of time an agent is connected to one or more communications.
  5. A communication system (100) configured to perform the method of claim 1, the system comprising: an agent registration system (114); a customer device (126); a presence system (104) configured to determine a presence of one or more agents; a wait-time determination engine (106) configured to determine a wait time for each of the one or more agents present for the communication; an agent scoring system (108) for determining a score for each of the one or more agents present for the communication based on at least the determined wait time; a routing engine (110) configured to select an agent and connect the selected agent to the communication; and an agent filter system (112) configured to filter one or more agents from a connection to the communication.
  6. The communication system of claim 5, wherein the system is configured to present score information for two or more agents present for the communication to a user.
  7. The communication system of claim 6, wherein the system is configured to allow the user to select a present agent to connect to the communication.
  8. The communication system of claim 6 or claim 7, wherein the agent scoring system is configured to automatically determine a score for the one or more agents present for the communication.
  9. The communication system of any of claims 5 to 8, wherein the score for each agent is based at least in part on a user rating for the agent and/or wherein the score for each agent is based at least in part on a supervisor rating for the agent.
  10. The communication system of any of claims 5 to 9, wherein the score for each agent is based at least in part on the wait time for the agent.
  11. The communication system of any of claims 5 to 10, wherein the agent selection engine is configured to select a set of agents.
  12. The communication system of any of claims 5 to 11, wherein the system is configured to automatically connect the present agent with the highest score to the communication.
  13. The communication system of any of claims 5 to 12, wherein the system is configured to present a predetermined number of present agents to a user and allow the user to select an agent to connect to the communication.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present disclosure generally relates to electronic communication methods and systems. More particularly, examples of the disclosure relate to electronic communication methods and systems suitable for contact centers. BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE Call or contact centers can be used for a variety of applications, including taking orders, providing technical support, taking surveys, receiving complaints, providing services, and the like. Contact center agents can communicate with others, such as customers, using a variety of communication techniques, including voice calls, video calls, chats, texts, emails, or other electronic communication techniques. Traditionally, contact centers are located in facilities with specialized spaces and offices, along with the call agents and technical equipment to support the agents. This model has begun to change in recent years with cloud computation, increasing data transmission speed over the Internet, and increased quality of service and improved technologies, such as browser-based calling. With these new technologies, agents are able to perform most or all contact center functions using a single application. Further, such technologies allow for contact centers to be virtual, where agents can work remotely. The use of virtual contact centers can lead to significant cost savings, because the virtual cost centers do not require a separate facility. Traditional contact centers, whether facility-based or virtual, tend to operate under very rigid guidelines. Agents are typically required to clock-in for certain hours for their shifts and must be available for their entire shift, outside of short breaks or lunch. Agents are paid for their shifts, regardless of how many interactions they handle during that time. Similarly, the customer who is calling into the contact center to get service has no control over which agent they would be connected with for the service. With increasing need for flexibility in working hours and more people desiring to work from home or remotely, agents often want more time flexibility in their jobs to manage work and personal life better. However, use of virtual contact centers can have challenges associated with a remote workforce. For example, it may be difficult to keep agents that work remotely engaged and motivated. Further, there may be a desire for on-demand services of contact center agents to, for example, provide more power to its users (e.g., agents and customers) in the choices they are making while providing and availing themselves to such services. Accordingly, improved electronic communication systems and methods are desired. Any discussion, including discussion of problems and solutions, set forth in this section has been included in this disclosure solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present disclosure, and should not be taken as an admission that any or all of the discussion was known at the time the invention was made or otherwise constitutes prior art. US 2015/195407 A1 relates to providing users of a network-based service with the opportunity to contact service agents and, in particular, to providing users of the network-based service with the option to contact a service agent that the user has previously contacted. Further aspects of the disclosure relate to facilitating communication between a service agent and a user when the service agent is off duty. US 2016/127556 A1 relates to an agent selector computer system for selecting at least one agent for at least one communication session in an enterprise. US 2013/173687 A1 describes a service center platform utilizes data collected from a user and an intelligent engine to provide guided support identification and routing in order to provide users in need of assistance to a specific skill or expert specialist able to support their request or need. US 6 064 730 A relates to a technique and system for one or more end users to visualize dynamic information of an organization or corporate entity. In particular, the invention enables callers to visualize information relating to an organization's people, products, structure, etc., and to enable routing of their calls to the appropriate people who can attend to their needs. SUMMARY According to a first aspect of this specification, there is described a communication method according to claim 1. According to a second aspect of this specification, there is described a communication system according to claim 5. Preferred embodiments are defined by the subject-matter of the dependent claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES The subject matter of the present disclosure is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. A more complete understanding of the present disclosure, however, may best be obtained by referring to the detailed description and claims when considered in connection with the drawing figures, wherein like numerals denote like