Monitoring system and method used in automatic call distributor for timing incoming telephone calls

Abstract

A monitoring system (200) and method for an automatic call distributor (100) which selectively interconnects an incoming telephone call from a caller and one of a plurality of agents are provided. The monitoring system (200) detects a length of time the agent is talking and a length of time the caller is talking during the incoming telephone call. Pauses in the incoming telephone call are timed, as is the length of time of the total incoming telephone call. The automatic call distributor (100) contains a first bus (204) on which voice signals from the agent to the caller are transmitted and a second bus (208) on which voice signals from the caller to the agent are transmitted. A digital signal processor (210) monitors the first and second busses (204) and (208) to detect voice signals from the agent and the caller, respectively. The detected information regarding the incoming telephone call is reported to the agent and/or supervisory personnel.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.