US 5,844,982 AGranted

Method for determining free agent communication terminal apparatus in communication networks with an automatic call distribution

AssigneeSiemens Aktiengesellschaft

InventorReinhard Knitl

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Abstract

The method relates to a group (G) of agent communication terminal apparatus (AKE) that are distributed over several communication systems (KS1, 2) of a communication network. If, given an incoming call (ar) in a communication system (KS1), no allocated agent communication terminal apparatus (AKE) is still free for the respective group (G), a resource request (ra) is transmitted to communication systems (KS2) to which agent communication terminal apparatus (AKE) of the same group (G) are connected. Using a response (aw), the addressed communication systems (KS2) indicate whether one of the agent communication terminal apparatus (AKE) is free or whether they are all occupied. After the signaling of a free agent communication terminal apparatus (AKE), the incoming call (ar) is switched to the respective communication system (KS2). With the method, the groups (G) of agent communication terminal apparatus (AKE) are distributed to several communication systems (KS1, 2), with efficient and uniform utilization thereof.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A method for determining free agent communication terminal apparatus in communication networks with automatic call distribution, comprising the steps of:

respectively switching incoming calls addressed to a service number to a free agent communication terminal apparatus of a communication system, the free agent communication terminal apparatus being selected through the automatic call distribution from a respective group of agent communication terminal apparatus allocated to the service number, the agent communication terminal apparatus allocated to the respective group being distributed via several communication systems of the communication network;
forming resource requests, given a call with a service number coming in to a respective communication system, for which call there is no longer a free agent communication terminal apparatus in the respective group of the respective communication system, and transmitting the resource requests to those communication systems to which agent communication terminal apparatus of the respective group are distributed;
determining, in each communication system that receives a resource request, availability of an agent communication terminal apparatus allocated to the respective group and forming and transmitting a response to the requesting communication system;
identifying a communication system with a free agent communication terminal apparatus of the respective group in the requesting communication system from the transmitted response, and switching the incoming call to the identified communication system using the automatic call distribution in the sense of a switching to the free agent communication terminal apparatus.

1 more element

A method for determining free agent communication terminal apparatus in communication networks with automatic call distribution, comprising the steps of:

respectively switching incoming calls addressed to a service number to a free agent communication terminal apparatus of a communication system, the free agent communication terminal apparatus being selected through the automatic call distribution from a respective group of agent communication terminal apparatus allocated to the service number, the agent communication terminal apparatus allocated to the respective group being distributed via several communication systems of the communication network;
forming resource requests, given a call with a service number coming in to a respective communication system, for which call there is no longer a free agent communication terminal apparatus in the respective group of the respective communication system, and transmitting the resource requests to those communication systems to which agent communication terminal apparatus of the respective group are distributed;
determining, in each communication system that receives a resource request, availability of an agent communication terminal apparatus allocated to the respective group and forming and transmitting a response to the requesting communication system;
identifying a communication system with a free agent communication terminal apparatus of the respective group in the requesting communication system from the transmitted response, and switching the incoming call to the identified communication system using the automatic call distribution in the sense of a switching to the free agent communication terminal apparatus;
receiving, given an availability of a respective agent communication terminal apparatus allocated to the respective group, the respective agent communication terminal apparatus;
forming, after identification of a communication system signaling a free agent terminal communication apparatus, a reservation release by the automatic call distribution for other communication systems that likewise signal a free agent communication terminal apparatus of the respective group, and
transmitting this release to the other communication systems, whereupon reservation of the agent communication terminal apparatus is removed in the other communication systems.

4 more elements

A method for determining free agent communication terminal apparatus in communication networks with automatic call distribution, comprising the steps of:

respectively switching incoming calls addressed to a service number to a free agent communication terminal apparatus of a communication system, the free agent communication terminal apparatus being selected through the automatic call distribution from a respective group of agent communication terminal apparatus allocated to the service number, the agent communication terminal apparatus allocated to the respective group being distributed via several communication systems of the communication network;
forming resource requests, given a call with a service number coming in to a respective communication system, for which call there is no longer a free agent communication terminal apparatus in the respective group of the respective communication system, and transmitting the resource requests to those communication systems to which agent communication terminal apparatus of the respective group are distributed;
determining, in each communication system that receives a resource request, availability of an agent communication terminal apparatus allocated to the respective group and forming and transmitting a response to the requesting communication system;
identifying a communication system with a free agent communication terminal apparatus of the respective group in the requesting communication system from the transmitted response, and switching the incoming call to the identified communication system using the automatic call distribution in the sense of a switching to the free agent communication terminal apparatus;
reserving, given an availability of a respective agent communication terminal apparatus allocated to the respective group, the respective agent communication terminal apparatus;
forming, after identification of a communication system signaling a free agent terminal communication apparatus, a reservation release by the automatic call distribution for other communication systems that likewise signal a free agent communication terminal apparatus of the respective group, and wherein this release is transmitted to the other communication systems, whereupon reservation of the agent communication terminal apparatus is removed in the other communication systems;
the resource request having communication system information that represents originating and target communication systems, line information that represents a physical communication connection that transmits the call respectively being received in the originating communication system, a service number that represents an allocated group of agent communication terminal apparatus in the originating communication system, and a service number that represents an allocated group of agent communication terminal apparatus in the target communication system;
the response having communication system information representing originating and target communication systems, a line information that represents a physical communication connection that transmits the call respectively being received in the originating communication system, a call number indicating free agent communication terminal apparatus, or identification information indicating that no agent communication terminal apparatus is free, and a service number representing an allocated group of free or non-free agent communication terminal apparatus in the target communication system;
the response request further having at least one of set information indicating the number of agent communication terminal apparatus of the respective group that are still free, a non-occupied time interval of indicated free agent communication terminal apparatus, and average non-occupied time interval of all agent communication terminal apparatus configured in the respective group;
the reservation release having communication system information that represents originating and target communication systems, a call number that indicates the reserved agent communication terminal apparatus, and a service number that represents an allocated group of reserved agent communication terminal apparatus in the target communication system.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.