Telephone agent management information system

A method of generating management information relating to a plurality of agent stations handling telephone calls via an ISDN switching system, comprising the steps of:

• connecting computing means to said switching system via an ISDN subscriber line;
• assigning to said computing means shared call appearances with said plurality of stations;
• transmitting from said switching system to said computing means associated ISDN messages corresponding to call handling information exchanged between said switching system and each of said stations via subscriber lines other than said ISDN subscriber line connecting said computing means to said switching system;
• interpreting said associated messages at said computing means and recording in said computing means call data defining call initiation times and call termination times for calls involving said stations;
• and
• generating at said computing means measurement data defining a measurement of call handling activity for each of said stations.

A method of collecting data representative of call handling activities of a plurality of telephone agent stations connected to an ISDN switching system via ISDN subscriber lines, comprising the steps of:

• exchanging ISDN control messages between said switching system and said stations over said ISDN lines;
• transmitting to a computer connected to said switching system via an ISDN subscriber line other than said ISDN subscriber lines connected to said agent stations, associated messages corresponding to call handling messages exchanged between said switching system and said stations;
• interpreting said associted messages at said computer;
• and
• generating at said computer data defining call handling activities of said stations over a period of time.

Apparatus for generating management information for a plurality of telephone stations connected via subscriber lines to an ISDN switching system generating associated ISDN messages representative of call handling messages exchanged between said stations and said switching system via said subscriber lines, comprising:

• computing means;
• display means connected to said computing means;
• and
• interface means for connecting, via a subscriber line other than said subscriber lines connected to said stations, said computing means to said ISDN switching system connected to said stations;
• and
• said computing means responsive to said associated ISDN messages for controlling said display means to display data representative of call handling activities of said stations.

An arrangement for generating data representative of call handling activities of a plurality of telephone agent stations located remotely from each other and each connected to a different one of a plurality of ISDN switching systems via a subscriber line, comprising:

• a plurality of monitoring means, each means individually connected to one of said switching systems via a subscriber line other than a subscriber line connected to an agent station and each responsive to ISDN messages communicated between certain of said stations and said individually connected one of said switching systems for generating data representative of call handling activities of each of said stations connected to said individually connected one of said switching systems;
• computing means responsive to data transmitted by each of said monitoring means for generating data representative of call handling activities for all of said plurality of stations;
• and
• means for transmitting data from each of said monitoring means to said computing means.

A method of collecting data representative of call handling activities of a plurality of telephone agent stations connected via subscriber lines to an ISDN switching system comprising the steps of:

• monitoring associated ISDN messages representative of call handling messages exchanged between said switching system and said stations, said associated messages being transmitted via subscriber lines other than said subscriber lines connected to said agent stations;
• converting said associated ISDN messages into data representative of functions performed by said stations;
• transmitting said data to a computer means;
• and
• generating at said computer means data defining call handling activities of all of said stations.

A billing information generating system for use with an ISDN switching system having a plurality of telephone agent stations connected thereto via ISDN subscriber lines, and an additional ISDN subscriber line not connected to said stations, and generating on said additional ISDN subscriber line digital messages corresponding to call handling information transmitted between said system and said stations, said billing information generating system comprising:

• means for connection to said additional subscriber line and for receiving said digital messages;
• means for recording call initiation and call termination information for each of said stations derived from said digital messages;
• and
• means for computing billing charges for calls for each of said stations.