US 6,798,876 B1 · Method and apparatus for intelligent routing of incoming calls to representatives in a call center

Abstract

A method and apparatus is disclosed for specifically routing a call based on the profile of the caller, the profile of the call center representative, and for updating the system based on experience to provide for more accurate call routing. The system accesses customer profile information and/or customer service representative information, and comparing the customer's need to the representative skill sets and job functions. It ranks the customer service representatives that can best meet the customer needs. The system then proceeds to route the incoming call to the service representative that is most likely to successfully meet the customer's needs. The system performs a post-call routine to determine how successfully it matched the customer with the appropriate call center representative.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A method for routing an incoming call to a customer service representative comprising the steps of:

identifying the caller of the incoming call;
retrieving a profile on the caller;
comparing the caller profile with stored customer service representative profiles to determine which customer service representatives are more qualified to handle the incoming call;
ranking the customer service representatives that can best meet the caller's needs;
routing the incoming call to a selected highest ranked customer service representative;
and
automatically updating, at the completion of the call, the caller profile and the selected customer service representative profile with information regarding the success of the call.

4 more elements

A method for routing an incoming call to a customer service representative, comprising the steps of:

identifying the caller of the incoming call;
retrieving a profile on the caller;
prompting the caller with a list of questions;
comparing the caller profile and answers to the prompted questions with stored customer service representative profiles to determine which customer service representatives are more qualified to handle the incoming call;
ranking the customer service representatives that can best meet the caller's needs;
routing the incoming call to the highest ranked customer service representative;
and
automatically updating, at the completion of the call, the caller profile and the highest ranked customer service representative profile with information regarding the success of the call.

5 more elements

A system for routing an incoming call to a customer service representative, comprising:

means for identifying the caller of the incoming call;
means for retrieving a profile on the caller;
means for comparing the caller profile with stored customer service representative profiles to determine which customer service representatives are more qualified to handle the incoming call;
means for ranking the customer service representatives that can best meet the caller's needs;
means for routing the incoming call to the highest ranked customer service representative;
and
means for automatically updating the caller profile and the highest ranked customer service representative profile with information regarding the success of the call upon call completion.