Point-of-presence call center management system

Abstract

A point-of-presence (POP) call center system capable of answering, servicing, queuing and routing of calls at local points of presence to reduce communications costs and enhance operational efficiency for toll-free inbound call centers. The POP call center system of the includes a set of point-of-presence call center gateways distributed at points of presence close to the point of call origination that are connected by a virtual private network to premises call center gateways at business locations where the call centers reside.

Description

[0001] This is a continuation of co-pending U.S. patent application No. 09 / 433,640, filed on Nov. 3, 1999, and entitled, "Point-of-Presence Call Center Management System."[0002] The present invention relates to the field of telecommunication, and more particularly to management of toll free telephone calls.BACKGROUND OF TEE INVENTION[0003] FIG. 1 is a functional diagram of a premises call center connecting an end user 116 to a business call center 108 via an originating Local Public Switched Telecommunications Network (PSTN) 106, a Long Distance Network 114 and terminating Local PSTN 106. Business call centers are typically put together by integrating multiple system components into a complete business solution to answer, service, queue and route inbound customer calls. These system components can include a Private Branch Exchange (PBX) 102, an Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) 112 and an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) System 110 in addition to customer service or help desk applica...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

The call centers depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2 each share the disadvantage that long distance toll charges accrue while a call is on hold awaiting connection to a call center agent.

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