TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates, in general, to wireless communications and, more particularly, to systems and methods for communications processing.

BACKGROUND

Call centers are designed to connect callers to agents or other company representatives for a variety of purposes. For instance, business owners may require call-center services to manage incoming calls or other types of inbound communications, including calls from prospective and existing customers. Customer experiences with call centers are important to the success of the business. For example, if a prospective customer encounters difficulty being connected to the business' sales team, the business owner may lose a sale. For this reason, the ability to quickly and efficiently process calls and other inbound communications is important to the success of the call center.

Systems have been developed to facilitate the handling of incoming calls to a call center. These systems, however, suffer from significant deficiencies. For example, one problem with existing call-center systems is that they fail to notify a client when a call (or other inbound communication) has been received and is being processed by the system. Rather, many existing systems process calls and other inbound communications without informing the client. This can result in a number of problems. For instance, the client may not be made aware that a call was received by the system until after the call or other inbound communication has been processed by the system and the caller's (e.g., a prospective customer) interaction with the call center has ended. This can result in loss of business and diminished customer satisfaction. Thus, there is a need for improved systems and methods of communications processing that notify a client when a communication has been received at a call center.

As another example, existing systems fail to provide the flexibility needed to effectively process calls and other inbound communications. With existing approaches, calls and other inbound communications received at a call center are typically processed in the same way. Oftentimes, however, this one-size-fits-all approach is undesirable. The lack of flexibility in existing systems may result in inappropriate handling of the communication. For instance, calls or other inbound communications that should be prioritized may be delayed, potentially resulting in loss of sales and diminished customer satisfaction. Moreover, requiring that all calls and other inbound communications received at the call center be processed in the same way may place a burden on system and call-center resources and prevent overall optimization of the system (for example, by requiring application of call-flow processes that are not necessary for that particular communication). Thus, there is a need for improved systems and methods of communications processing that provide flexibility and allow inbound communications to be processed in a manner that is suitable for the particular caller and/or call-center client.

SUMMARY

To address the foregoing problems with existing approaches, disclosed is a system. The system comprises a service platform associated with a call center, the service platform comprising an applications server configured to communicatively couple to a softswitch and a database. The applications server is configured to receive an inbound communication. The applications server is configured to determine a source of the inbound communication. The applications server is configured to identify one or more configuration parameters associated with a destination of the inbound communication, the destination of the inbound communication associated with a client of the call center. The applications server is configured to route the inbound communication to an agent associated with the call center to establish a communication session. The applications server is configured to send, to the client based on the one or more configuration parameters associated with the destination of the inbound communication, a notification that the inbound communication was received, the notification identifying the source of the inbound communication.

In certain embodiments, the notification may comprise a link enabling the client to request to join the communication session. The applications server may be further configured to receive, from the client, a request to join the communication session. The applications server may be further configured to join the client in the communication session. In certain embodiments, the applications server may be further configured to assign a unique identifier to the communication session. The request to join the communication session may comprise the unique identifier.

In certain embodiments, the one or more configuration parameters may indicate that the client is to be notified when inbound communications directed to the destination are received at the service platform.

In certain embodiments, the inbound communication may be a first inbound communication. The applications server may be further configured to: subsequently receive a second inbound communication; determine a source of the second inbound communication; and identify one or more configuration parameters associated with a destination of the second inbound communication, the destination of the second inbound communication associated with the client of the call center; determine that the source of the second inbound communication is the same as the source of the first inbound communication; and route the second inbound communication to the client instead of the agent based on the one or more configuration parameters associated with the destination of the second inbound communication. In certain embodiments, the applications server may be further configured to determine that the second inbound communication was received within a predetermined amount of time after the first inbound communication was received. The one or more configuration parameters may indicate that subsequent inbound communications from the same source that are received within the predetermined amount of time should be routed to the client instead of the agent.

In certain embodiments, the agent associated with the call center may comprise one of: an operator; and a speech-enabled intelligent script. In certain embodiments, the inbound communication may comprise one of: a phone call; a video conference call; a text message; and an e-mail.

In certain embodiments, in determining the source of the inbound communication, the application server may be further configured to: determine a telephone number associated with the inbound communication; and access a database record associated with the telephone number, the database record comprising information about an entity associated with the telephone number. The notification may identify the source of the inbound communication using the information about the entity.

Also disclosed is a method. The method comprises receiving an inbound communication at a service platform associated with a call center. The method comprises determining, by the service platform, a source of the inbound communication. The method comprises identifying, by the service platform, one or more configuration parameters associated with a destination of the inbound communication, the destination of the inbound communication associated with a client of the call center. The method comprises routing the inbound communication to an agent associated with the call center to establish a communication session. The method comprises sending, from the service platform to the client, a notification that the service platform has received the inbound communication. The notification is sent based on the one or more configuration parameters associated with the destination of the inbound communication. The notification identifies the source of the inbound communication.

In certain embodiments, the notification may comprise a link enabling the client to request to join the communication session. The method may comprise receiving, from the client, a request to join the communication session. The method may further comprise joining the client in the communication session. In certain embodiments, the method may comprise assigning, by the service platform, a unique identifier to the communication session. The request to join the communication session may comprise the unique identifier.

In certain embodiments, the one or more configuration parameters may indicate that the client is to be notified when inbound communications directed to the destination are received at the service platform.

In certain embodiments, the inbound communication may be a first inbound communication. The method may comprise subsequently receiving a second inbound communication at the service platform associated with the call center. The method may comprise determining, by the service platform, a source of the second inbound communication. The method may comprise identifying, by the service platform, one or more configuration parameters associated with a destination of the second inbound communication, the destination of the second inbound communication associated with the client of the call center. The method may comprise determining, by the service platform, that the source of the second inbound communication is the same as the source of the first inbound communication. The method may comprise routing the second inbound communication to the client instead of the agent based on the one or more configuration parameters associated with the destination of the second inbound communication.

In certain embodiments, the method may comprise determining that the second inbound communication was received within a predetermined amount of time after the service platform received the first inbound communication. The one or more configuration parameters may indicate that subsequent inbound communications from the same source that are received within the predetermined amount of time should be routed to the client instead of the agent.

In certain embodiments, the agent associated with the call center may comprise one of: an operator; and a speech-enabled intelligent script. In certain embodiments, the inbound communication may comprise one of: a phone call; a video conference call; a text message; and an e-mail.

In certain embodiments, determining the source of the inbound communication may comprise: determining, by the service platform, a telephone number associated with the inbound communication; and accessing, by the service platform, a database record associated with the telephone number, the database record comprising information about an entity associated with the telephone number. In certain embodiments, the notification may identify the source of the inbound communication using the information about the entity.

Also disclosed is a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, are configured to perform a method. The method comprises receiving an inbound communication at a service platform associated with a call center. The method comprises determining, by the service platform, a source of the inbound communication. The method comprises identifying, by the service platform, one or more configuration parameters associated with a destination of the inbound communication, the destination of the inbound communication associated with a client of the call center. The method comprises routing the inbound communication to an agent associated with the call center to establish a communication session. The method comprises sending, from the service platform to the client, a notification that the service platform has received the inbound communication. The notification is sent based on the one or more configuration parameters associated with the destination of the inbound communication. The notification identifies the source of the inbound communication.

In certain embodiments, the inbound communication may be a first inbound communication. The method may comprise subsequently receiving a second inbound communication at the service platform associated with the call center. The method may comprise determining, by the service platform, a source of the second inbound communication. The method may comprise identifying, by the service platform, one or more configuration parameters associated with a destination of the second inbound communication, the destination of the second inbound communication associated with the client of the call center. The method may comprise determining, by the service platform, that the source of the second inbound communication is the same as the source of the first inbound communication. The method may comprise routing the second inbound communication to the client instead of the agent based on the one or more configuration parameters associated with the destination of the second inbound communication.

Certain embodiments of the present disclosure may provide one or more technical advantages. For example, certain embodiments may advantageously provide for more efficient call processing. As another example, certain embodiments may advantageously provide for timely notifying a client that an inbound communication has been received and is being processed. As still another example, certain embodiments may advantageously enable the client to quickly join a communication session with the caller and/or an agent. As yet another example, certain embodiments may advantageously enable subsequent calls to be routed to the client directly, bypassing the agent and thereby conserving system and call-center resources. As another example, certain embodiments may advantageously provide increased flexibility, for instance by allowing the client to choose configuration parameters for call processing that most effectively meet the client's needs. Other advantages may be readily apparent to one having skill in the art. Certain embodiments may have none, some, or all of the recited advantages.

