Context-sensitive presentation of information to call-center agents

A method of presenting information to a call center agent in a context-sensitive manner, comprising the steps of:

• monitoring an agent's input into an agent position and information being displayed to the agent at the agent position to determine with whom the agent is presently engaged in a telephone call and what the telephone call is about;
• receiving a request from the agent to display, at the agent position, contents of a directory that includes a plurality of directory entries;
• in response to the request, analyzing the request within a context of with whom the agent is presently engaged and what the telephone call is about, to determine a subset of the directory entries which are most relevant to who the agent is presently engaged with and to what the telephone call is about;
• and
• displaying only the subset of the directory entries at the agent position in response to the request.

A method of presenting address directory information to a party to a communication in a context-sensitive manner, comprising the steps of:

• determining with whom the party to the communication is presently engaged in the communication;
• analyzing by machine contents of an address directory that includes a plurality of address directory entries to determine a subset of the address directory entries which are most relevant to who the party to the communication is presently engaged with and which excludes some of the address directory entries;
• and
• presenting the subset of the address directory entries to the party to the communication.

An apparatus for presenting information at a call center agent position in a context-sensitive manner, comprising:

• means for monitoring activities at an agent position of a call center, including monitoring with whom an agent at the agent position is presently engaged in a call and what the call is about;
• a processor connected to the monitoring means and responsive to receiving a request for information from the agent position, for analyzing the request within a context of with whom the agent is presently engaged and what the call is about to determine a subset of the requested information, that excludes some of the requested information, which is most relevant to who the agent is presently engaged with and to what the call is about;
• and
• means connected to the processor for presenting at least the subset of the requested information at the agent position in response to the request, including presenting the subset of the requested information in a manner that emphasizes the subset over the rest of the requested information.

An apparatus for presenting information to a call center agent in a context-sensitive manner, comprising:

• means for monitoring an agent's input into an agent position and information being displayed to the agent at the agent position to determine with whom the agent is presently engaged in a telephone call and what the telephone call is about;
• a processor connected to the monitoring means and responsive to receipt of a request from the agent to display at the agent position contents of a directory that includes a plurality of directory entries, for analyzing the request within a context of with whom the agent is presently engaged and what the telephone call is about, to determine a subset of the directory entries which are most relevant to who the agent is presently engaged with and to what the telephone call is about;
• and
• means connected to the processor, for displaying only the subset of the directory entries at the agent position in response to the request.

An apparatus for presenting address directory information to a party to a communication in a context-sensitive manner, comprising:

• means for determining with whom the party to the communication is presently engaged in the communication;
• means for analyzing contents of an address directory that includes a plurality of address directory entries to determine a subset of the address directory entries which are most relevant to who the party to the communication is presently engaged with and which excludes some of the address directory entries;
• and
• presenting the subset of the address directory entries to the party to the communication.