Rule based routing system and method for a virtual sales and service center

A routing system for developing a routing profile for making a sales and service resource match to a customer during a call, comprising:

• a call profile processor for identifying a call profile for the call;
• a match processor for matching the call profile to a sales and service resource profile representing an identified resource and generating an instruction signal;
• customer interaction devices capable of receiving an instruction signal and accepting data from the customer during the call;
• and
• a switch for receiving the instruction signal and routing the call to the identified resource in response thereto;
• wherein the call profile processor updates the call profile identified for the call with the routing profile for use in subsequent contacts with the customer;
• and
• the routing profile comprises the identified resource and instruction signal used in routing the call.

A method of routing customer contacts, comprising the steps of:

• storing a plurality of customer types in a customer profile database;
• storing a plurality of primary resource types, first overflow resource types and second overflow resource types in a sales and service resource profile data base;
• receiving customer data from a device handling a customer contact;
• determining a customer type based upon the customer data by identifying customer subfields;
• identifying a matching primary resource within the sales and service resource profile data base to handle the call for routing the customer to the matching primary resource;
• and
• routing the customer to the matching primary resource, and
• updating the customer profile database identified for the call with the matching primary resource for use in identifying the matching primary resource during subsequent contacts with the customer.

A method for developing a routing profile for making a sales and service resource match to a customer during a call, comprising:

• identifying a call profile for the call;
• matching the call profile to a sales and service resource profile representing an identified resource in a call center;
• generating an instruction signal;
• routing the call to the identified resource in response to the instruction signal;
• and
• updating the call profile identified for the call with the routing profile for use in matching the call profile to the sales and service resource profile during subsequent contacts with the customer;
• wherein the routing profile comprises the identified resource and instruction signal used in routing the call.