US 8,804,942 B2Granted

Routing and queuing information for video conferencing in banking centers

AssigneeBank of America Corporation

InventorsStefani R. Benefield, James R. Grimsley, Rosemary Hill, Varsha Shitut, Sheryl L. Stewart

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Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention provide apparatuses and methods for providing improved customer service and sales experiences through collaborative face-to-face interaction between a customer and an expert in another location. Some embodiments of the invention comprise apparatuses and methods for video collaboration between an associate of the business located on-site at the point of inquiry, the customer who requires customer service, and an expert located off-site, typically at a call center. Other embodiments of the invention comprise apparatuses and methods for queuing video collaboration and non-video collaboration calls within a call center. The embodiments of the invention relate to apparatuses and methods that can be used for any business that has on-site point of inquiry centers, but the apparatuses and methods are particularly useful for banking customers who enter banking centers to interact on a face-to-face basis with an expert in the area of the customer's needs.

Claims15

Dependent claims

A system for routing and queuing calls comprising:

a memory device;
a communication device;
a processing device operatively coupled to the communication device and the memory device;
and
computer readable program code stored on said memory device, wherein said computer readable program code includes instructions that when performed by said processing device causes said processing device to:
receive an incoming call from a customer interface located at a banking center wherein the incoming call is initiated by an associate for the benefit of a customer based on a customer inquiry;
determine a type of call for the incoming call, wherein the type of call is one of at least two types of calls comprising a video call or a non-video call, and wherein the determining the type of call for the incoming call comprises:
determining a video type of call, when the incoming call includes video capabilities;
and
determining a non-video type of call, when the incoming call does not include video capabilities;
determine a type of customer inquiry associated with the incoming call, wherein the type of customer inquiry is initiated by the associate when the associate initiates the incoming call based on the customer inquiry;
identify one or more representatives available to accept the incoming call based on the type of call and the type of customer inquiry, wherein the one or more representatives qualify as an expert for the customer inquiry;
determine handle time information for the one or more representatives available to accept the incoming call when the one or more representatives are available;
determine staffing level information associated with the one or more representatives available to accept the incoming call when the one or more representatives are available, wherein the staffing level information comprises the one or more representatives that have only audio capabilities, the one or more representatives that have only video capabilities, and the one or more representatives that have both audio and video capabilities;
route the incoming call to a representative of the one or more representatives available based at least in part on the handle time information and the staffing level information;
route the incoming call to a queue when none of the one or more representatives are available;
display via the customer interface and a representative interface, information associated with the type of customer inquiry when the incoming call includes video capabilities;
and
receive via the customer interface, input from the customer, wherein the input is an electronic signature related to the information associated with the type of customer inquiry.

16 more elements

A method for routing and queuing calls comprising:

receiving, by a processing device, an incoming call from a customer interface located at a banking center, wherein the incoming call is initiated by an associate for the benefit of a customer based on a customer inquiry;
determining a type of call for the incoming call, wherein the type of call is one of at least two types of calls comprising a video call or a non-video call, and wherein the determining the type of call for the incoming call comprises:
determining a video type of call, when the incoming call includes video capabilities;
and
determining a non-video type of call, when the incoming call does not include video capabilities;
determining a type of customer inquiry associated with the incoming call, wherein the type of customer inquiry is initiated by the associate when the associate initiates the incoming call based on the customer inquiry;
identifying one or more representatives available to accept the incoming call based on the type of call and the type of customer inquiry, wherein the one or more representatives qualify as an expert for the customer inquiry;
determining handle time information for the one or more representatives available to accept the incoming call when the one or more representatives are available;
determining staffing level information associated with the one or more representatives available to accept the incoming call when the one or more representatives are available, wherein the staffing level information comprises the one or more representatives that have only audio capabilities, the one or more representatives that have only video capabilities, and the one or more representatives that have both audio and video capabilities;
routing the incoming call to a representative of the one or more representatives available based at least in part on the handle time information and the staffing level information;
routing the incoming call to a queue when none of the one or more representatives are available
displaying via the customer interface and a representative interface, information associated with the type of customer inquiry when the incoming call includes video capabilities;
and
receiving via the customer interface, input from the customer, wherein the input is an electronic signature related to the information associated with the type of customer inquiry.

11 more elements

A computer program product for a system for routing and queuing call center calls, the computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-readable program code portions embodied therein, the computer-readable program code portions comprising:

an executable portion configured for receiving an incoming call from a customer interface located at a banking center wherein the incoming call is initiated by an associate for the benefit of a customer based on a customer inquiry;
an executable portion configured for determining a type of call for the incoming call, wherein the type of call is one of at least two types of calls comprising a video call or a non-video call, and wherein the determining the type of call for the incoming call comprises:
determining a video type of call, when the incoming call includes video capabilities;
and
determining a non-video type of call, when the incoming call does not include video capabilities;
an executable portion configured for determining a type of customer inquiry associated with the incoming call, wherein the type of customer inquiry is initiated by the associate when the associate initiates the incoming call based on the customer inquiry;
an executable portion configured for identifying one or more representatives available to accept the incoming call based on the type of call and the type of customer inquiry, wherein the one or more representatives qualify as an expert for the customer inquiry;
an executable portion configured for determining handle time information for the one or more representatives available to accept the incoming call when the one or more representatives are available;
an executable portion configured for determining staffing level information associated with the one or more representatives available to accept the incoming call when the one or more representatives are available, wherein the staffing level information comprises the one or more representatives that have only audio capabilities, the one or more representatives that have only video capabilities, and the one or more representatives that have both audio and video capabilities
an executable portion configured for routing the incoming call to a representative of the one or more representatives available based at least in part on the handle time information and the staffing level information;
an executable portion configured for routing the incoming call to a queue when none of the one or more representatives are available;
an executable portion configured for displaying via the customer interface and a representative interface, information associated with the type of customer inquiry when the incoming call includes video capabilities;
and
an executable portion configured for receiving via the customer interface, input from the customer, wherein the input is an electronic signature related to the information associated with the type of customer inquiry.

11 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 12/847,418Filed 30 Jul 2010 · us provisional application
Priority: 27 Apr 2010
Published: US 2011/0261947 A127 Oct 2011
Granted: 12 Aug 2014
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification4 codes

H04N 7/147
Between two video terminals, e.g. videophone: communication arrangements, e.g. identifying the communication as a video-communication,…
H04L 12/1827
For computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms: network arrangements for conference optimisation or adaptation
H04N
Pictorial communication
H04L
Digital communication