Robin A Foster

US Patent:

6353667, Mar 5, 2002

Filed:

Aug 27, 1998

Appl. No.:

09/141273

Inventors:

Robin H. Foster - Little Silver NJ
Eugene P. Mathews - Barrington IL

Assignee:

Avaya Technology Corp. - Basking Ridge NJ

International Classification:

H04M 300

US Classification:

37926505, 37926501, 37926502

Abstract:

A minimum interruption cycle time is established for a reserve agent in a call center. The reserve agent may be an exclusively reserve agent which processes only calls requiring reserve skills. In an illustrative embodiment, after the reserve agent completes the processing of a call, a cycle timer is started for that agent. The delivery of additional calls to the reserve agent is then suspended until the value of the cycle timer is greater than or equal to the established minimum interruption cycle time for that agent. The minimum interruption cycle time is selected so as to allow the reserve agent to complete a designated number of non-call tasks between the calls processed by the reserve agent. If there is a pool of reserve agents, one or more of the reserve agents may be temporarily converted to normal agent status for at least one particular skill that is causing excessive interruption of reserve agents, so as to maintain the minimum interruption cycle time for the remaining reserve agents in the presence of an increased call volume.

US Patent:

6356632, Mar 12, 2002

Filed:

Dec 31, 1998

Appl. No.:

09/224043

Inventors:

Robin H. Foster - Little Silver NJ
William E. Gourlay - Santa Ana CA
Eugene P. Mathews - Barrington IL

Assignee:

Avaya Technology Corp. - Basking Ridge NJ

International Classification:

H04M 300

US Classification:

37926504, 37926603

Abstract:

A call center is configured such that call selection and/or agent selection processes may be based at least in part on stored information regarding agent schedules, such as scheduled break times, training sessions, ends of shifts or other events for the agents. In an illustrative embodiment, schedule information is stored for at least one of the call center agents, and a communication is selected for delivery to the agent based at least in part on the stored schedule information for that agent. For example, a call selection process in the call center may be modified for a designated period of time before a scheduled break of a given agent such that the call selected for delivery to that agent is likely to be completed in the time remaining until the scheduled break. As another example, an agent selection process in the call center may be modified for a designated period of time before a scheduled break such that the agent selected to process a given call is one likely to complete the call in the time remaining until the scheduled break. The designated time period may vary depending on factors such as the type of scheduled event, or the type of agent.

US Patent:

6359982, Mar 19, 2002

Filed:

Jan 12, 1999

Appl. No.:

09/228992

Inventors:

Robin H. Foster - Little Silver NJ
Roy A. Jensen - Westminster CO
Joylee E. Kohler - Northglenn CO
Eugene P. Mathews - Barrington IL

Assignee:

Avaya Technologies Corp. - Basking Ridge NJ

International Classification:

H04M 342

US Classification:

37926606, 3792651

Abstract:

A call center is configured to include a capability for generating measures of occupancy for one or more agents. At least one value characterizing an occupancy measure determination for a given agent is stored in a memory associated with the call center, and used in generating an occupancy measure for that agent. In an illustrative embodiment, a set of stored values for the given agent includes an initial occupancy value for the agent, expressed in terms of a percentage. The occupancy measure for the agent may then be set to the initial occupancy value upon a log-in by the agent, so as to avoid undue oscillation in the occupancy measure after log-in. The set of stored values for the given agent may also include, for example, a limit which specifies a maximum amount of time for a designated activity which is to be considered as occupied time in generating the occupancy measure, or a limit which specifies a maximum effect of a designated activity in generating the occupancy measure. The designated activity may be, for example, after call work or auxiliary work performed by the agent.

US Patent:

6760428, Jul 6, 2004

Filed:

Jul 30, 1999

Appl. No.:

09/364434

Inventors:

Robin H. Foster - Little Silver NJ

Assignee:

Avaya Technology Corp. - Basking Ridge NJ

International Classification:

G06F 1300

US Classification:

37926509, 37926502, 37926512, 37926513

Abstract:

A call center is configured such that voice prompts provided to a given caller are modified based on prior e-mail notifications or other non-telephonic communications between the call center and that caller. In an illustrative embodiment, information regarding at least one previous non-telephonic communication with a given caller is stored in a database or other memory accessible to the call center. When the given caller places a subsequent call to the call center, the call center retrieves the stored information for that caller, and selects voice prompts for the caller based at least in part on the e-mails or other non-telephonic communications previously sent to the caller. The call is then routed to an appropriately-skilled agent based at least in part on a response of the caller to the voice prompt. Additional information relating to the previous non-telephonic communication, e. g. , a copy or summary of the communication, may be transmitted to the agent that receives the call.

US Patent:

7209444, Apr 24, 2007

Filed:

May 15, 2002

Appl. No.:

10/145030

Inventors:

Robin Harris Foster - Little Silver NJ, US
Jeffrey H. Hagan - Phoenix AZ, US

Assignee:

Avaya Technology Corp. - Basking Ridge NJ

International Classification:

H04L 12/26
H04L 1/00

US Classification:

370235, 3702301, 370231

Abstract:

Incoming communications received by call centers and the like are routed to one or more alternative call centers based on a comparison of Match Rates and Expected Wait Times. Such routing helps improve the overall load balancing of a call center or network of call centers while increasing the effectiveness and controlling the costs of handling incoming communications.

US Patent:

8565412, Oct 22, 2013

Filed:

Jun 23, 2009

Appl. No.:

12/490238

Inventors:

Robin H. Foster - Little Silver NJ, US
Hongguang Li - Broomfield CO, US
Lynn R. Smith - Westminster CO, US
Katherine A. Sobus - Wilmington DE, US

Assignee:

Avaya Inc. - Basking Ridge NJ

International Classification:

H04M 3/00

US Classification:

37926601, 37926501, 37926502

Abstract:

Methods for enabling call center agents to adapt their servicing of incoming calls based on the estimated value of the calls are disclosed. In accordance with the first illustrative embodiment, when there is a “high-value” call waiting in the queue while one or more agents are currently servicing lower-value calls, an agent who is servicing a lower-value call is informed that there is a higher-value call waiting in the queue, and is prompted to provide an estimate of how much longer he or she will be servicing his or her current call. The call center system selects which agent the high-value call will be routed to based on: (i) the agents' responses to the prompts, and (ii) for each of the responding agents, a measure of how closely prior responses from the agent compared to the actual amount of time taken by the agent to complete servicing the call.

US Patent:

20100322408, Dec 23, 2010

Filed:

Aug 20, 2009

Appl. No.:

12/544666

Inventors:

Robin H. Foster - Little Silver NJ, US
Hongguang Li - Broomfield CO, US
Lynn R. Smith - Westminster CO, US
Katherine A. Sobus - Wilmington DE, US

Assignee:

AVAYA INC. - Basking Ridge NJ

International Classification:

H04M 3/00

US Classification:

37926606

Abstract:

A data store (e.g., a relational database, an object-oriented database, an unstructured file system, an in-memory data structure, etc.) and associated methods are disclosed for predicting the accuracy of agent responses in a call center. In accordance with the illustrative embodiment, agents in a call center are prompted at different times during their workday for estimates of how much longer they will be servicing their current call, and the estimates are stored in the data store along with the actual times required for completion of the call. Statistics for each agent's prediction accuracy are computed and stored in the data store along with the raw data, and can then be used to assess the accuracy of subsequent agent responses to queries.

US Patent:

59038772, May 11, 1999

Filed:

Sep 30, 1996

Appl. No.:

8/723733

Inventors:

Patricia Ann Berkowitz - Little Silver NJ
Robin Harris Foster - Little Silver NJ
David Abraham Horovitz - Highland Park NJ
Andrew Derek Flockhart - Thornton CO
Myron Eugene Drapal - Longmont CO

Assignee:

Lucent Technologies Inc. - Murray Hill NJ

International Classification:

G06F15/21

US Classification:

705 26

Abstract:

A transaction center including a transaction processing platform having an automatic call distribution system for queuing customer transaction requests, for choosing an appropriate service agent according to information gathered about the transaction requests, and for determining when the appropriate service agent is available. Also provided is a transaction request server for receiving and storing the transaction requests. In operation, the message is first received and stored by the transaction request server. Next, the presence of the message is detected and in response thereto a signal is sent to the transaction processing platform. Finally, the message is sent to the appropriate service agent in response to a signal from the transaction processing platform indicating that the appropriate service agent is available to service the transaction request.