System and method of managing calls at a call center

#The present disclosure relates generally to managing calls at a call center.

#Many companies employ call centers to provide information about products and services to their customers. Often, the demand for information becomes so high that the number of callers who contact a call center at any one time exceeds the number of available agents at the call center. Calls are placed in one or more queues that maintain the calls in a certain sequence, such as the order in which they were received at the call center. As an agent becomes available, the call that is at the first position in the queue is transferred to the agent. The positions of the remaining calls in the queue are then advanced.

#Queues prevent call centers from turning callers away when their calls cannot be immediately answered. Nonetheless, a caller may be inconvenienced, by waiting on or near a particular telephone, until the call is transferred to an agent for service. Additionally, maintaining queues requires excessive hardware and manpower at the call center. Every call that is in queue in a call center takes up an available circuit and port, and complex scheduling of human resources and call patterns are required to maintain a “below xx minute” wait time at the call center.

#FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a system to manage calls in a call center;

#FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a second embodiment of a system to manage calls in a call center;

#FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a method of managing calls in a call center;

#A system to manage calls in a call center is disclosed and includes a server having a processor and a memory accessible to the processor. A computer program is embedded in the memory and includes instructions to receive a call from a caller. The computer program also includes instructions to transmit an estimated wait time to the caller. The computer program also includes instructions to prompt the caller with a wait option and a receive return call option. The computer program also includes instructions to prompt the caller with a schedule return call option when the caller selects the receive return call option.

#In another embodiment, a method of managing calls in a call center is disclosed and includes receiving a call from a caller. The method also includes transmitting an estimated wait time to the caller. The method also includes prompting the caller with a wait option and a receive return call option. The method also includes prompting the caller with a schedule return call option, when the caller selects the receive return call option.

#Referring to FIG. 1, a system to manage calls in a call center is shown and is generally designated 100. As shown, the system 100 includes a server 102. The server 102 includes a processor 104 and a memory device 106 that is accessible to the processor 104. In a particular embodiment, the server 102 communicates with a caller telephone 112 via a telephone network 114. For example, the phone network can comprise an Internet Protocol (IP) telephone network, a public switched telephone network (PSTN), a cellular network, a mobile phone network, or any other telephone network.