System and method for a work distribution service

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10904389-B2
Application number	US-201916383303-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 12, 2019
Priority date	Mar 14, 2014
Publication date	Jan 26, 2021
Grant date	Jan 26, 2021

Abstract

Systems and methods for a work distribution service. At a multi-tenant platform that provides a work distribution service for a plurality of external systems, a priority is assigned to a first work item of a first external system. The work item is received via a RESTful work item API call request. The priority is assigned based on work item attributes of the work item and a workflow instruction corresponding to workflow information specified by the work item. The workflow instruction is provided by the external system via a RESTful Workflow API. A worker is assigned to the work item based on: the priority of the work item, the workflow information, and worker state managed by the first external system via a RESTful Worker API. The worker state includes worker attributes. The work item is generated by the external system, and the workflow instruction is managed by the external system.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving, by a call center system, a first request to be connected to an agent, wherein the first request is transmitted by a first external application server system using a communication format defined by an Application Programming Interface (API) of the call center system;
in response to receiving the first request, selecting, from a set of agent identifiers assigned to the first external application server system, a first agent identifier to fulfill the first request, each agent identifier from the set of agent identifiers corresponding to a unique agent from a set of agents; and
providing, to the first external application server system, assignment information identifying the first agent identifier that was selected to fulfil the first request.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting the first agent identifier comprises:
determining, based on agent data associated with the set of agent identifiers, that a first agent corresponding to the first agent identifier is qualified to fulfill the first request.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein determining that the first agent corresponding to the first agent identifier is qualified to fulfill the first request comprises:
determining a work task associated with the first request;
identifying, based on agent data associated with each agent identifier from the set of agent identifiers, a subset of the set of agent identifiers that correspond to agents that are qualified to perform the work task; and
selecting the first agent identifier from the subset of the set of agent identifiers.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the work task identifies a first language and identifying the subset of the set of agent identifiers that correspond to agents that are qualified to perform the work task comprises identifying agents that speak the first language.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting the first agent identifier to fulfill the first request comprises:
accessing status data for the set of agent identifiers;
determining, based on the status data for the set of agent identifiers, a subset of the set of agent identifiers that have an available status; and
selecting the first agent identifier from the subset of the set of agent identifiers.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a second request to be connected to an agent, wherein the second request is transmitted by a second application server system using the communication format defined by the API of the call center system;
in response to receiving the second request, selecting, from a second set of agent identifiers assigned to the second external application server system, a second agent identifier to fulfill the second request; and
providing, to the second external application server system, assignment information including at least the second identifier.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the first external application server system is associated with a first account of the call center system and the second external application server system is associated with a second account of the call center system.

8. A call center system comprising:
one or more computer processors; and
one or more computer-readable mediums storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more computer processors, cause the call center system to perform operations comprising:
receiving a first request to be connected to an agent, wherein the first request is transmitted by a first external application server system using a communication format defined by an Application Programming Interface (API) of the call center system;
in response to receiving the first request, selecting, from a set of agent identifiers assigned to the first external application server system, a first agent identifier to fulfill the first request, each agent identifier from the set of agent identifiers corresponding to a unique agent from a set of agents; and
providing, to the first external application server system, assignment information identifying the first agent identifier that was selected to fulfil the first request.

9. The call center system of claim 8 , wherein selecting the first agent identifier comprises:
determining, based on agent data associated with the set of agent identifiers, that a first agent corresponding to the first agent identifier is qualified to fulfill the first request.

10. The call center system of claim 9 , wherein determining that the first agent corresponding to the first agent identifier is qualified to fulfill the first request comprises:
determining a work task associated with the first request;
identifying, based on agent data associated with each agent identifier from the set of agent identifiers, a subset of the set of agent identifiers that correspond to agents that are qualified to perform the work task; and
selecting the first agent identifier from the subset of the set of agent identifiers.

11. The call center system of claim 8 , wherein the work task identifies a first language and identifying the subset of the set of agent identifiers that correspond to agents that are qualified to perform the work task comprises identifying agents that speak the first language.

12. The call center system of claim 8 , wherein selecting the first agent identifier to fulfill the first request comprises:
accessing status data for the set of agent identifiers;
determining, based on the status data for the set of agent identifiers, a subset of the set of agent identifiers that have an available status; and
selecting the first agent identifier from the subset of the set of agent identifiers.

13. The call center system of claim 8 , the operations further comprising:
receiving a second request to be connected to an agent, wherein the second request is transmitted by a second application server system using the communication format defined by the API of the call center system;
in response to receiving the second request, selecting, from a second set of agent identifiers assigned to the second external application server system, a second agent identifier to fulfill the second request; and
providing, to the second external application server system, assignment information including at least the second identifier.

14. The call center system of claim 8 , wherein the first external application server system is associated with a first account of the call center system and the second external application server system is associated with a second account of the call center system.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more computer processors of a call center system, cause the call center system to perform operations comprising:
receiving a first request to be connected to an agent, wherein the first request is transmitted by a first external application server system using a communication format defined by an Application Programming Interface (API) of the call center system;
in response to receiving the first request, selecting, from a set of agent identifiers assigned to the first external application server system, a first agent identifier to fulfill the first request, each agent identifier from the set of agent identifiers corresponding to a unique agent from a set of agents; and
providing, to the first external application server system, assignment information identifying the first agent identifier that was selected to fulfil the first request.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein selecting the first agent identifier comprises:
det

Assignees

• Twilio Inc

Inventors

• Wolthuis John
• Brazier Robert

Classifications

• H04M3/5233 Primary

  Operator skill based call distribution · CPC title

• G06Q10/063114

  Status monitoring or status determination for a person or group · CPC title

• H04M3/5232

  Call distribution algorithms · CPC title

• G06Q10/0633

  Workflow analysis · CPC title

• H04M3/5175

  Call or contact centers supervision arrangements · CPC title