US Patent No: 8,036,371

Number of patents in Portfolio can not be more than 2000

Utilizing small group call center agents to improve productivity without impacting service level targets

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ALSO PUBLISHED AS: 20070129996
ATTORNEY / AGENT: (SPONSORED)
 

Importance

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Abstract

In a call center, a plurality of agents comprises at least a first group associated with a first skill and a second group associated with a second skill. The second group may have a substantially larger number of agents than the first group, and accordingly the first and second groups may be referred to as small and large groups, respectively, and the first and second skills may be referred to as small and large skills, respectively. In one embodiment, if a service level target for the small skill is being met, and a number of available agents in the small group exceeds a specified minimum available agent requirement, at least one of the available agents in the small group is selected and designated as eligible for handling a communication involving the large skill, without assigning that agent to the large group or removing that agent from the small group.

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First Claim

Related Publications

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Patent Owner(s)

Patent OwnerAddressTotal Patents
AVAYA INC.BASKING RIDGE, NJ2118

International Classification(s)

  • [Classification Symbol]
  • [Patents Count]

Inventor(s)

Inventor Name Address # of filed Patents Total Citations
Babine, Brigite M Lewiston, ME 2 2
Foster, Robin H Little Silver, NJ 24 1202

Cited Art

Patent Info (Count) # Cites Year
 
AVAYA INC. (14)
6,353,667 Minimum interruption cycle time threshold for reserve call center agents 23 1998
6,535,601 Skill-value queuing in a call center 65 1998
6,366,666 Adjustment of call selection to achieve target values for interval-based performance metrics in a call center 49 1998
6,925,165 Call selection based on continuum skill levels in a call center 9 1998
6,356,632 Call selection and agent selection in a call center based on agent staffing schedule 68 1998
6,760,428 Modification of voice prompting based on prior communication in a call center 4 1999
6,535,600 System for automatically routing calls to call center agents in an agent surplus condition based on service levels 81 1999
6,563,920 Methods and apparatus for processing of communications in a call center based on variable rest period determinations 58 1999
6,614,903 Methods and apparatus for service state-based processing of communications in a call center 54 1999
6,732,188 Method for providing customer treatment based on specified rules in conjunction with network source address of a request originator 50 1999
6,661,889 Methods and apparatus for multi-variable work assignment in a call center 23 2000
6,741,698 Call management system using dynamic threshold adjustment 18 2000
6,633,640 Methods and apparatus for analysis of load-balanced multi-site call processing systems 28 2000
6,973,176 Method and apparatus for rotating auto reserve agents 2 2003
 
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION (2)
6,704,765 System for allocating resources among agent processes 3 1994
5,706,516 System for communicating messages among agent processes 63 1995
 
ASPECT COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION (1)
5,978,465 Method and apparatus for allocating resources in a call center 32 1997
 
E-TALK CORPORATION (1)
7,072,966 Skills-based routing of a communication session 13 2001
 
ROCKWELL ELECTRONIC COMMERCE CORP. (1)
6,856,680 Contact center autopilot algorithms 11 2001
 
ROCKWELL SEMICONDUCTOR SYSTEMS, INC. (1)
6,061,347 ACD with packet data based agent interconnect 46 1998
 
SBC TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES, INC. (1)
6,389,400 System and methods for intelligent routing of customer requests using customer and agent models 129 1999
 
SIEMENS ENTERPRISE COMMUNICATIONS, INC. (1)
5,519,773 Call sharing for inbound and outbound call center agents 56 1994
 
OTHER [CHECK PATENT PROFILE FOR ASSIGNMENT INFORMATION] (1)
2002/0169,820 PROCESS POOL METHODS AND APPARATUS 6 1998

Patent Citation Ranking

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Maintenance Fees

Fee Large entity fee small entity fee micro entity fee due date
3.5 Year Payment $1600.00 $800.00 $400.00 Apr 11, 2015
7.5 Year Payment $3600.00 $1800.00 $900.00 Apr 11, 2019
11.5 Year Payment $7400.00 $3700.00 $1850.00 Apr 11, 2023
Fee Large entity fee small entity fee micro entity fee
Surcharge - 3.5 year - Late payment within 6 months $160.00 $80.00 $40.00
Surcharge - 7.5 year - Late payment within 6 months $160.00 $80.00 $40.00
Surcharge - 11.5 year - Late payment within 6 months $160.00 $80.00 $40.00
Surcharge after expiration - Late payment is unavoidable $700.00 $350.00 $175.00
Surcharge after expiration - Late payment is unintentional $1,640.00 $820.00 $410.00