U.S. patent application number 10/293666 was filed with the patent office on 2003-04-10 for method and apparatus for establishing connections.
Invention is credited to Khouri, Joseph F., Mack, Michael L., Sinha, Gautam.
Application Number | 20030069937 10/293666 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 25444175 |
Filed Date | 2003-04-10 |
United States Patent
Application |
20030069937 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Khouri, Joseph F. ; et
al. |
April 10, 2003 |
Method and apparatus for establishing connections
Abstract
A system and method is provided for establishing a connection
between an agent and a user. A request is received from the user
requesting contact by an agent. The request includes an identifier
associated with the web page being viewed by the user. An agent is
selected based on the web page being viewed by the user. The
identifier associated with the web page is transmitted to an agent
that will contact the user. A connection is then established
between the user and the agent.
Inventors: |
Khouri, Joseph F.; (San
Jose, CA) ; Mack, Michael L.; (Los Gatos, CA)
; Sinha, Gautam; (Fremont, CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BLAKELY SOKOLOFF TAYLOR & ZAFMAN
12400 WILSHIRE BOULEVARD, SEVENTH FLOOR
LOS ANGELES
CA
90025
US
|
Family ID: |
25444175 |
Appl. No.: |
10/293666 |
Filed: |
November 12, 2002 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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10293666 |
Nov 12, 2002 |
|
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08920669 |
Aug 29, 1997 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
709/206 ;
370/352 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04M 3/5231 20130101;
H04M 3/5191 20130101; H04M 7/003 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
709/206 ;
370/352 |
International
Class: |
G06F 015/16; H04L
012/66 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method of establishing a connection with a user, the method
including: receiving a request for agent contact from the user,
wherein the request includes an identifier associated with a web
page being viewed by the user; selecting an agent to respond to the
request based on the web page being viewed by the user;
transmitting the identifier associated with the web page to the
agent; and establishing the connection between the user and the
agent;
2. The method of claim 1, which includes displaying the web page
associated with the identifier to the agent.
3. The method of claim 1, which includes retrieving an information
associated with the user from a database; and displaying the
information to the agent.
4. The method of claim 3, which includes generating a user web page
containing the information associated with the user, displaying the
information associated with the user to the agent and displaying
the user web page to the agent.
5. The method of claim 1, in which establishing the connection
between the user and the agent includes initiating a voice
connection across a telephone network between the user and the
agent.
6. The method of claim 5, which includes a verification.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the verification is performed by
a telephone answering system.
8. The method of claim 6, wherein the verification is performed by
an integrated voice response system.
9. The method of claim 6, wherein the verification determines that
the connection is to the user that requested agent contact.
10. The method of claim 1, in which the request is received through
a web server.
11. The method of claim 1, in which the identifier associated with
the web page is a uniform resource locator (URL) of the web
page.
12. The method of claim 1, in which the method is implemented in a
call processing environment.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein establishing the connection
between the user and the agent is performed at a scheduled
time.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein the scheduled time is selected
by the user.
15. The method of claim 13, wherein the scheduled time is selected
by an organization based on expected agent availability.
16. A system for establishing a connection with a user, the system
including: a receiving mechanism to receive a request for agent
contact from the user, wherein the request includes an identifier
associated with a web page being viewed by the user; a selection
mechanism for a selection of an agent to respond to the request,
the selection of the agent being based on the web page being viewed
by the user; a communications mechanism to transmit the identifier
associated with the web page to the agent; and a connection device
to establish the connection between the user and the agent.
17. The system of claim 16, which includes a display mechanism to
display the web page associated with the identifier to the
agent.
18. The system of claim 16, which includes a retrieval mechanism to
retrieve user information from a database and to display the user
information to the agent.
19. The system of claim 18, which includes a web page generator to
generate a user web page containing the user information that is
retrieved by the retrieval mechanism and displayed by the retrieval
mechanism.
20. The system of claim 16, in which the connection device is a
voice connection device that initiates a voice connection across a
telephone network between the user and the agent.
21. The system of claim 20, which includes a verification mechanism
to verify that the voice connection is to the user who requested
agent contact.
22. The system of claim 16, in which the receiving mechanism is a
web server.
23. A system for establishing a connection with a user, the system
including: means for receiving a request for agent contact from the
user, wherein the request includes an identifier associated with a
web page being viewed by the user; means for selecting an agent to
respond to the request for agent contact by contacting the user,
the selection of the agent being based on the web page being viewed
by the user; means for communicating the identifier associated with
the web page to the agent selected to contact the user; and means
for establishing the connection between the user and the agent.
24. A computer software product including a medium, readable by a
machine, the medium having stored thereon a sequence of
instructions which, when executed by the machine, causes the
machine to: receive a request for agent contact from the user,
wherein the request includes an identifier associated with a web
page being viewed by the user; select an agent to respond to the
request for agent contact by contacting the user, said selection
being based on the web page being viewed by the user; transmit the
identifier associated with the web page to the agent selected to
contact the user; and establish a connection between the user and
the agent.
Description
RELATED INVENTIONS
[0001] The present application is a continuation of application
Ser. No. 08/920,669 filed on Aug. 29, 1997. The above mentioned
application is hereby incorporated by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to a system for establishing
connections between two individuals. Additionally, the present
invention provides a system for displaying information about a
telephone caller to a telephone agent.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Various systems have been developed that allow two
individuals to communicate with one another. With the growth of the
Internet and other networks and information distribution systems,
individuals are accessing and retrieving data and other information
in new ways. For example, an individual desiring information about
a particular company, organization, or product, may search the
Internet or other information sources to obtain the desired
information. In certain instances, the information located by the
individual may not contain all of the information desired by the
individual. When this occurs, the individual must continue
searching other information sources, or contact the company or
organization providing the information on the Internet. Thus, an
individual might obtain a portion of the desired information from a
manufacturer's web site, but still require additional information
about the product which is not provided at the web site. In this
case, the individual may contact the manufacturer by placing a
telephone call to the manufacturer to talk with a representative in
an attempt to obtain the additional information. To place this
telephone call, the individual must first locate the telephone
number of the manufacturer and manually place a call to the
manufacturer, and perhaps navigate the manufacturer's telephone
answering system to locate a representative capable of providing
the additional desired information. This approach can be tedious in
that the proper phone number to contact the manufacturer may not be
readily available, and the individual may be uncertain as to the
proper person or the proper department at the manufacturer that can
provide the desired information.
[0004] In situations where an individual calls an organization to
talk to an agent of the organization, the organization may obtain
the telephone number of the caller or other information for
properly handling the call (e.g., selecting an appropriate agent to
answer the call). Various information about the caller (e.g., prior
purchases and account balance) may be displayed to the agent before
the call is answered. In existing systems, a custom software
application is executed on the agent's computer to retrieve and
display information about the caller. This custom software
application must be installed on each agent's computer.
Additionally, if the information to be displayed about a caller
changes, corresponding changes may be necessary in the custom
computer application installed on each agent's computer. Changes in
the layout of information on the display may also require changes
or upgrades to the custom computer applications.
[0005] It is therefore desirable to provide a system that easily
connects an individual (such as an individual viewing a web page)
to a representative of the organization (such as the organization
associated with the web page). Furthermore, it is desirable to
provide a system that uses a non-custom software application to
retrieve and display information.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] A method establishing a connection with a user includes: 1)
receiving a request for agent contact from the user, where the
request includes an identifier associated with a web page being
viewed by the user; 2) selecting an agent to respond to the request
based on the web page being viewed by the user; 3) transmitting the
identifier associated with the web page to the agent; and 4)
establishing the connection between the user and the agent.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] The present invention is illustrated by way of example in
the following drawings in which like references indicate similar
elements. The following drawings disclose various embodiments of
the present invention for purposes of illustration only and are not
intended to limit the scope of the invention.
[0008] FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a system capable of
implementing the present invention.
[0009] FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate a flow diagram representing an
embodiment of a procedure for establishing a telephone connection
between a user accessing a web page and a telephone agent.
[0010] FIG. 3 illustrates another system in which embodiments of
the present invention may be utilized.
[0011] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a
procedure for displaying information to a telephone agent regarding
a caller using a web page and a web browser application.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0012] The following detailed description sets forth numerous
specific details to provide a thorough understanding of the
invention. However, those of ordinary skill in the art will
appreciate that the invention may be practiced without these
specific details. In other instances, well-known methods,
procedures, protocols, components, and circuits have not been
described in detail so as not to obscure the invention.
[0013] Embodiments of the present invention are related to a system
for establishing communications between two individuals and for
providing information about a telephone caller to a telephone
agent. One embodiment of the invention provides a mechanism for an
individual who is viewing a particular web page to automatically
request that the individual be called back by a representative of
the organization associated with the web page being viewed. Thus,
rather than attempting to locate the organization's telephone
number and navigate a telephone answering system, embodiments of
the present invention allow an individual viewing a web page to
request that an agent call the individual.
[0014] In another embodiment of the invention, the telephone number
(or other caller-specific data) of a telephone caller is determined
by the system and used to identify information about the telephone
caller. The telephone number and the identified information is used
to generate a web page that displays the identified information to
a telephone agent. An identifier is associated with the web page
generated for viewing by the telephone agent. The web page
identifier is then provided to the agent who will handle the call,
such that the agent's computer automatically displays the generated
web page. Thus, the agent's computer can view information about a
caller by using a web browser application alone. Although
particular embodiments of the invention are described as being
coupled to the Internet, it will be appreciated that alternate
embodiments of the invention may be used in any type of network
environment.
[0015] FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a system capable of
implementing the present invention. A user's computer 10 is coupled
to the Internet (identified by reference numeral 12), by a direct
coupling to the Internet, through an Internet Service Provider
(ISP) or through some other Internet connection mechanism. A web
server 14 is also coupled to the Internet 12 and allows Internet
users to browse the various web pages stored within web server 14.
Any number of users are capable of accessing web server 14 through
the Internet 12 at any given time. Each web page stored within web
server 14 has an associated identification, commonly referred to as
a uniform resource locator (URL). If a user's web browser
application executing on the user's computer 10 requests a
particular URL, web server 14 provides the requested web page to
the web browser via the Internet 12.
[0016] Web server 14 may contain numerous web pages associated with
different companies, organizations, and/or individuals.
Alternatively, web server 14 may be dedicated to web pages
associated with a particular company, organization, or individual.
Web server 14 is coupled to a computer telephony integration (CTI)
server 18, which is coupled to a telephony server 16. CTI server 18
provides an interface between web server 14 and telephony server
16. Additionally, CTI server 18 is coupled to a host 19, which may
be a computer system, a database, or other device. CTI server 18 is
capable of communicating with host 19 to transmit data between host
19, web server 14, and telephony server 16.
[0017] In a particular embodiment of the invention, telephony
server 16 is an automatic call distributor (ACD). Alternatively,
telephony server 16 may be a private branch exchange (PBX) or other
system capable of processing transactions (e.g., telephone
calls).
[0018] Telephony server 16 receives incoming telephone calls and
places outbound telephone calls using a public switched telephone
network (PSTN) 22. A user's telephone 24 is also coupled to PSTN 22
for communicating with telephony server 16. In a particular
embodiment of the invention, telephony server 16 is capable of
handling hundreds or thousands of incoming and/or outgoing calls
across PSTN 22. Telephony server 16 is also coupled to an agent's
telephone 26, which allows an agent to communicate through
telephony server 16 and PSTN 22 to user's telephone 24.
[0019] An agent's computer 20 is coupled to web server 14 and
telephony server 16. Computer 20 is capable of receiving data and
other information, including web page information, from web server
14 or telephony server 16. Agent's computer 20 may contain multiple
software applications, including a web browser application for
retrieving and displaying web pages. FIG. 1 illustrates a single
computer 20 and telephone 26 for purposes of explanation. However,
it will be appreciated that a particular call processing system may
have hundreds or thousands of agents, and corresponding computers
and telephones for each agent.
[0020] Although web server 14, telephony server 16, and CTI server
18 are shown as separate devices in FIG. 1, in alternate
embodiments of the invention, these servers are combined together
in a single device or system. For example, telephony server 16 and
CTI server 18 may be combined into a single system. Alternatively,
web server 14 and CTI server 18 can be combined together in a
single device. Similarly, web server 14, CTI server 18, and
telephony server 16 can be combined in a single device or system.
In other embodiments of the invention, host 19 is contained within
CTI server 18.
[0021] Agent's computer 20 and agent's telephone 26 are illustrated
in FIG. 1 as separate devices. In alternate embodiments, the two
devices are merged together or use a telephone adapter to permit
agent's computer 20 to perform the functions of a conventional
telephone. For example, a WinSet.TM. adapter sold by Aspect
Telecommunications of San Jose, Calif., may be used in place of
telephone 26. Similarly, user's computer 10 and user's telephone 24
can be combined together in a single system. In particular
embodiments of the invention, Internet 12 and PSTN 22 may be
combined together in a single network environment.
[0022] FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate a flow diagram representing an
embodiment of a procedure for establishing a telephone connection
between a user accessing a web page and a telephone agent. At step
30, a user accesses the Internet and views various web pages
provided by one or more web servers. After viewing one or more web
pages, the user may have additional questions that are not answered
by the materials in the web pages. Therefore, at step 32, the user
requests to talk with an agent of the organization associated with
the current web page being viewed by the user. This request may be
initiated, for example, by activating a "call me back" button on
the web page.
[0023] In response to the user's request to be contacted by an
agent, at step 34 the web server providing the current web page
identifies the URL of the current web page being viewed by the
user. The URL of the current web page being viewed identifies that
web page such that any web browser coupled to the Internet can
access the web page using the associated URL. A URL may be a
numeric identifier (e.g., "121.0.24.76") or an alphanumeric string
identifier (e.g., "www.aspect.com"). In alternate embodiments of
the invention, any type of web page identifier can be used to
indicate the web page being viewed by the user. The purpose of the
web page identifier is to allow the telephony desktop application
on the agent's computer to retrieve and display the web page viewed
by the user.
[0024] At step 35, the procedure obtains the telephone number at
which the user wants to be called. The telephone number can be
obtained by requesting that the user enter the number in a space
provided on the web page. At step 36, the procedure determines
whether the user can be called as requested. If not, the procedure
branches to step 37 to notify the user that a return call cannot be
initiated. Additionally, the user may be given information
regarding how and when to contact the organization. Step 36 may
determine that the user cannot be called because, for example, the
organization is closed and no agents are on duty to place
calls.
[0025] If step 36 determines that the user can be called as
requested, then the procedure continues to step 38, where an
outbound telephone call is initiated to the telephone number
obtained in step 35. At step 40, the procedure verifies that the
person answering the telephone call wants to talk to an agent of
the organization. This ensures that the proper telephone number was
obtained and dialed, and that the correct person answered the call.
The verification performed in step 40 can be implemented by any
type of telephone answering system or integrated voice response
(IVR) system. If a verification is not received at step 40, then
the procedure terminates. Otherwise, the procedure continues to
step 42 in FIG. 2B.
[0026] In an embodiment of the invention, a particular time is
scheduled for the user to be called by an agent. The scheduled time
may be selected by the user or by the organization based on
expected agent availability. A scheduled time for a return call is
useful to a person who wants to be called back at a different
location and requires a period of time to travel to that location.
A scheduled time for a return call is useful to the organization if
all agents are busy and several return calls have already been
placed in queue. In this situation, the user knows when to expect a
return call rather than waiting for an unknown period of time. If a
return call is scheduled for a future time, the system obtains the
user's telephone number and the URL in the same manner as discussed
above in FIG. 2A. The telephone number and URL are stored along
with the time of the scheduled return call. Thus, although the
return call may be initiated when the user is no longer viewing the
web page, the agent is capable of retrieving and viewing the web
page before calling the user.
[0027] At step 42 (FIG. 2B), the web server generates a request to
connect an agent to the person answering the telephone call. This
request includes the URL of the web page being viewed by the user
at the time the request to talk to an agent was generated. At step
43, the web server transmits the request to a telephony server (for
example, via CTI server 18 in FIG. 1). At step 44, the telephony
server selects an agent of the organization and transmits the URL
of the web page viewed by the user to the selected agent's
telephony desktop application. An agent may be selected at random
or based on the content of the web page being viewed by the user.
For example, if the user is viewing a web page associated with a
particular product, then an agent familiar with that product is
selected to handle the call.
[0028] At step 46, the telephony desktop application transmits the
URL (provided by the telephony server) to a web browser. The web
browser retrieves the web page associated with the URL from the web
server and displays the web page on the agent's computer (e.g.,
using a web browser application). Thus, the agent is able to view
the same web page viewed by the user when the request for a return
was entered. At step 48, the telephony server establishes a voice
connection between the requesting user and the selected agent of
the organization. Once the voice connection is established, the
agent is able to provide any additional information requested by
the user.
[0029] In other embodiments of the invention, the telephony server
also generates a web page containing information about the user.
The URL of this generated web page is provided to the agent's
computer along with the URL of the web page being viewed by the
user. Thus, the agent's computer displays the web page being viewed
by the user as well as a web page containing information about the
user (e.g., account balance and geographic location of the user).
Additional details regarding the generation of a web page
containing user information are provided below.
[0030] FIG. 3 illustrates another system in which embodiments of
the present invention may be utilized. The system illustrated in
FIG. 3 allows a user to initiate a call to a telephony server,
which then connects the user's call to a particular agent.
Information about the calling user is obtained from a database or
other storage mechanism based on the caller's telephone number. The
information obtained may include account information, purchasing
habits, and other information that may be useful to the agent
handling the call. The information retrieved about the caller is
used to generate a web page, the URL of which is provided to an
agent's computer for automated display.
[0031] Referring to FIG. 3, a caller's telephone 50 is coupled to a
PSTN 52. A telephony server 54 is also coupled to PSTN 52 for
transmitting outgoing calls and receiving incoming calls via PSTN
52. As discussed above with respect to FIG. 1, telephony server 54
may be an ACD, a PBX, or any other system capable of handling
incoming or outgoing telephone calls. A CTI server 56 is coupled to
telephony server 54, a web server 64, and a host 66. CTI Server 56
provides an interface for communicating data between host 66,
telephony server 54, and web server 64. Host 66 may include a
database that contains information about various customers or
potential callers (e.g., account information and purchasing
habits).
[0032] An agent's telephone 60 is coupled to telephony server 54,
thereby allowing an agent to communicate with caller's telephone 50
through PSTN 52. An agent's computer 62 is coupled to telephony
server 54 and web server 64. Computer 62 is capable of receiving
and displaying various information, including web pages, on a
display device viewed by the agent.
[0033] Telephony server 54, CTI server 56, and web server 64 are
illustrated in FIG. 3 as separate devices. However, as discussed
above with respect to FIG. 1, any of the servers may be merged into
a single device or system. Furthermore, host 66 can be contained
within CTI server 56. Agent's telephone 60 and agent's computer 62
are also shown in FIG. 3 as separate devices. However, as discussed
above with respect to FIG. 1, the functionality of telephone 60 may
be integrated into computer 62 by using an adapter or other
mechanism. For example, a WinSet.TM. adapter sold by Aspect
Telecommunications of San Jose, Calif., may be used to provide
telephone functionality on agent's computer 62.
[0034] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a
procedure for displaying information to a telephone agent regarding
a caller. This information is displayed to the telephone agent
using a web page and a web browser application running on the
agent's computer. The display of information to an agent about the
caller associated with an incoming call may be referred to as a
"screen pop."
[0035] At step 70, a user calls a telephony server having web
capabilities (although the user is typically unaware of these web
capabilities). The user dials a number associated with the
organization, thereby accessing the organization's telephony
server. Depending on the organization, the user may be calling to
place an order, make a reservation, or obtain various types of
information. At step 72, the telephony server identifies the
caller's telephone number. At step 74, the telephony server
identifies various information about the caller based on the
caller's telephone number. This information may be stored in a
database or other storage mechanism. The information about the
caller may include the caller's prior purchases, current balance,
and other information useful to the agent answering the call.
[0036] At step 76, the telephony server generates a web page
containing the caller's telephone number and other information
about the caller identified in step 74. The web page generated at
step 76 may be an interactive web page that allows the agent
viewing the web page to access additional information from a host
or server (e.g., host 66 in FIG. 3). At step 78, the telephony
server assigns a URL to the web page generated at step 76. In
alternate embodiments of the invention, the telephony server
assigns a unique identifier to the web page instead of a URL. As
discussed above, the purpose of assigning a URL or other unique
identifier to the web page is to allow the telephony desktop
application on the agent's computer to retrieve and display the web
page generated by the telephony server.
[0037] At step 80, the telephony server selects an agent to receive
the call and transmits the URL (or other unique identifier) to the
selected agent's telephony desktop application. At step 82, the
agent's telephony desktop application opens the URL on a web
server. The web pages displayed are controlled by a CTI server.
This causes the agent's computer to display the information known
about the caller prior to or at approximately the same time the
call is received by the agent. Thus, the agent's computer only
requires a web browser application to retrieve and view information
about the caller. The web browser application may replace one or
more custom software applications previously used to retrieve and
display data. At step 86, the telephony server establishes a voice
connection between the caller and the selected agent, thereby
allowing the selected agent to answer the call.
[0038] Generating a web page to display information about a caller
allows the format and the content of the data displayed to change
without requiring changes or upgrades to the software applications
executing on the agent's computer. The web browser application will
retrieve the web page regardless of the web page layout or content.
Thus, the use of a web page browser application on the agent's
computer is capable of simplifying the maintenance and operation of
the information retrieval and display portions of a transaction
processing system.
[0039] Embodiments of the present invention may include code
sequences, instructions, parameters, and other information stored
on a processor-readable medium (or computer-readable medium). The
code sequences, instructions, parameters, and other information are
used to perform various procedures, such as the procedures
described above. The processor-readable medium may be any type of
magnetic, optical, or electrical storage medium including a disk,
diskette, CD-ROM, tape, memory device, or similar storage
medium.
[0040] The data management system described above may be
implemented using any type of computer or processor-based system. A
particular system may include a processor, a cache memory, and one
or more input/output (I/O) buses. The system may also include a
network/communication interface, system memory, video memory, a
display device, a mass storage device, a keyboard, and a pointing
device. The network/communication interface is used to provide
communication between various components of the system. Any of a
wide range of conventional networks, such as an Ethernet network,
Token Ring network, the Internet, etc. may be used. Furthermore,
any communication protocol may be used to communicate information
through the system.
[0041] The mass storage device is used to provide permanent storage
for the data and programming instructions used to implement the
above-described functions. The system memory is used to provide
temporary storage for the data and programming instructions when
executed by a processor. The mass storage device may be provided
with the programming instructions by loading the programming
instructions from a distribution storage medium, or by downloading
the programming distributions from a server. Collectively, these
elements are intended to represent a broad category of hardware
systems, including but not limited to, general purpose computer
systems.
[0042] From the above description and drawings, it will be
understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the
particular embodiments shown and described are for purposes of
illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the
invention. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that
the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without
departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. References
to details of particular embodiments are not intended to limit the
scope of the claims.
* * * * *