Managing telephone interactions of a user and an agent

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10148815-B2
Application number	US-201715417490-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 27, 2017
Priority date	Jan 27, 2017
Publication date	Dec 4, 2018
Grant date	Dec 4, 2018

Abstract

The present invention provides a method, system, and computer program product of managing telephone interactions of a user and an agent. In an embodiment, the present invention includes determining when a user telecommunications device is no longer in an on-hold state based on electronic signals transmitted from an agent telecommunications device, in response to the determining, receiving speech of an agent from the agent telecommunications device, in response to the receiving, transmitting an alert message to the user telecommunications device, in response to the receiving, monitoring for at least one indication that the user is about to speak with the agent, in response to the monitoring not resulting in the at least one indication, transmitting at least one utterance corresponding to the user to the agent telecommunications device, and in response to the monitoring resulting in the at least one indication, conducting a smooth transition to the user.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer implemented method comprising:
determining, by a computer system, when a user telecommunications device is no longer in an on-hold state based on electronic signals transmitted from an agent telecommunications device via a telecommunications channel to the user telecommunications device;
in response to the determining, receiving, by the computer system, speech of an agent from the agent telecommunications device via the telecommunications channel, wherein the speech of the agent is interpreted as a question asked of the user by the agent;
in response to the receiving, transmitting, by the computer system, an alert message to the user telecommunications device to be rendered to a user of the user telecommunications device, wherein the alert message indicates that the agent is speaking;
in response to the receiving, monitoring, by the computer system, the telecommunications channel for at least one indication that the user is about to speak with the agent, wherein the at least one indication that the user is about to speak with the agent comprises at least one of an off-hook signal and an off-mute signal;
in response to the monitoring not resulting in the at least one indication that the user is about to speak with the agent, transmitting, by the computer system, at least one utterance corresponding to the user via the telecommunications channel to the agent telecommunications device, wherein the at least one utterance includes an answer to the question and wherein the answer is determined by the computer system; and
in response to the monitoring resulting in the at least one indication that the user is about to speak with the agent, conducting, by the computer system, a smooth transition to the user.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the determining comprises comparing, by the computer system, the electronic signals with data stored in a computer database, wherein the data indicates on-hold characteristics of entities who may be represented by the agent.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one utterance comprises a request by the user for information from the agent.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the conducting a smooth transition to the user comprises transmitting, by the computer system, via the telecommunications channel to the agent telecommunications device, utterances that at least introduce the user to the agent.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the question comprises a request by the agent for information associated with the user, and
the answer corresponds to the user.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the computer system comprises a digital telephone.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the computer system comprises a computer system of a third-party entity, wherein the third-party entity is not an entity associated with the agent and wherein the third-party entity is not an entity associated with the user.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the user telecommunications device is selected from the group consisting of a digital telephone and an analog telephone.

9. A system comprising:
a memory; and
a processor in communication with the memory, the processor configured to perform a method comprising,
determining when a user telecommunications device is no longer in an on-hold state based on electronic signals transmitted from an agent telecommunications device via a telecommunications channel to the user telecommunications device,
in response to the determining, receiving speech of an agent from the agent telecommunications device via the telecommunications channel, wherein the speech of the agent is interpreted as a question asked of the user by the agent,
in response to the receiving, transmitting an alert message to the user telecommunications device to be rendered to a user of the user telecommunications device, wherein the alert message indicates that the agent is speaking,
in response to the receiving, monitoring the telecommunications channel for at least one indication that the user is about to speak with the agent, wherein the at least one indication that the user is about to speak with the agent comprises at least one of an off-hook signal and an off-mute signal,
in response to the monitoring not resulting in the at least one indication that the user is about to speak with the agent, transmitting at least one utterance corresponding to the user via the telecommunications channel to the agent telecommunications device wherein the at least one utterance includes an answer to the question and wherein the answer is determined by the computer system, and
in response to the monitoring resulting in the at least one indication that the user is about to speak with the agent, conducting a smooth transition to the user.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the determining comprises comparing the electronic signals with data stored in a computer database, wherein the data indicates on-hold characteristics of entities who may be represented by the agent.

11. The system of claim 9 wherein the at least one utterance comprises a request by the user for information from the agent.

12. The system of claim 9 wherein the conducting a smooth transition to the user comprises transmitting via the telecommunications channel to the agent telecommunications device, utterances that at least introduce the user to the agent.

13. The system of claim 9 wherein:
the question comprises a request by the agent for information associated with the user, and
the answer corresponds to the user.

14. The system of claim 9 wherein the user telecommunications device is selected from the group consisting of a digital telephone and an analog telephone.

15. A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a processor to cause the processor to perform a method comprising:
determining when a user telecommunications device is no longer in an on-hold state based on electronic signals transmitted from an agent telecommunications device via a telecommunications channel to the user telecommunications device,
in response to the determining, receiving speech of an agent from the agent telecommunications device via the telecommunications channel, wherein the speech of the agent is interpreted as a question asked of the user by the agent,
in response to the receiving, transmitting an alert message to the user telecommunications device to be rendered to a user of the user telecommunications device, wherein the alert message indicates that the agent is speaking,
in response to the receiving, monitoring the telecommunications channel for at least one indication that the user is about to speak with the agent, wherein the at least one indication that the user is about to speak with the agent comprises at least one of an off-hook signal and an off-mute signal,
in response to the monitoring not resulting in the at least one indication that the user is about to speak with the agent, transmitting at least one utterance corresponding to the user via the telecommunications channel to the agent telecommunications device, wherein the at least one utterance includes an answer to the question and wherein the answer is determined by the computer system, and
in response to the monitoring resulting in the at least one indication that the user is about to speak with the agent, conducting a smooth transition to the user,
wherein the computer-readable storage medium is not a transitory signal per se.

16. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the determining compr

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Amir Arnon
• Megiddo Nimrod

Classifications

• H04M3/4286 Primary

  Notifying a held subscriber when his held call is removed from hold · CPC title

• H04M7/0012

  Details of application programming interfaces [API] for telephone networks; Arrangements which combine a telephonic communication equipment and a computer, i.e. computer telephony integration [CPI] arrangements · CPC title

• H04M3/2272

  Subscriber line supervision circuits, e.g. call detection circuits · CPC title

• H04M3/42221

  Conversation recording systems (at the subscriber's set H04M1/656) · CPC title

• H04M3/51

  Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention {, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing} · CPC title