Call Center Privacy via Conference Trunk Segmentation

Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional call center telephone systems require supervisors to put customer calls on hold to communicate privately with operators, disrupting the customer's experience and causing them to wait in silence or with a hold tone.

Innovation Solution

The system switches a two-way call between a customer and an operator to a three-way call state using conference trunks, allowing supervisors to send messages or advice to operators without putting the customer's call on hold, using a private branch exchange to connect transmission lines between the supervisor, operator, and customer, ensuring the customer remains unaware of the communication.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of information

If the supervisor interrupts a call between customer and operator to send advice or message, then the supervisor can communicate with the operator, but the customer can also hear the content of the advice or message

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveprivacy of supervisor-operator communicationVSAvoidsimplicity of call interruption function

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the audio transmission paths by creating separate channels: one path carries customer audio to both the operator and supervisor (monitoring function), while another path carries supervisor advice/messages only to the operator. This segmentation allows the supervisor to communicate privately with the operator during an active call without the customer hearing the advice or message content.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

2Loss of information

If the outside line to which the customer is connected is put on hold to prevent the customer from hearing the advice or message, then the customer privacy is maintained, but the customer is made to wait

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveprivacy of supervisor-operator communicationVSAvoidcustomer waiting time

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the audio transmission paths by creating separate channels: one path carries customer audio to both the operator and supervisor (monitoring function), while another path carries supervisor advice/messages only to the operator. This segmentation allows the supervisor to communicate privately with the operator during an active call without the customer hearing the advice or message content, and without putting the customer on hold.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The system uses an intermediary mechanism (the conference trunk with selective connection control) that allows the supervisor's advice or message to be transmitted to the operator while blocking it from reaching the customer. This intermediary function enables private communication without interrupting the customer service flow.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Loss of information

If the supervisor monitors the call between customer and operator, then the supervisor can understand the operator's handling state, but the supervisor is unable to send advice or message to the operator during the call

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesupervisor awareness of call stateVSAvoidreal-time guidance capability

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges the call monitoring function and the advice/message transmission function into a single integrated system. The supervisor terminal can simultaneously monitor the customer-operator call and send advice or messages to the operator through the conference trunk, eliminating the need to choose between monitoring and communicating.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The system uses an intermediary mechanism (the conference trunk with selective connection control) that allows the supervisor's advice or message to be transmitted to the operator while blocking it from reaching the customer. This intermediary function enables private communication without interrupting the customer service flow.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentEP3139581B1Call-center telephone system, privacy telephone communication method, and nontemporary computer readable medium on which privacy telephone communication program has been stored

Publication Date: 2019.08.28 NEC PLATFROMS LTD

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3

AI summary

When a two-way call connection state, which is between a customer terminal connected to an outside line (3) side of a private branch exchange and an operator terminal (10), is switched to a three-way call connection state, which is among the outside line (3), the operator terminal (10), and a supervisor terminal (20), using conference (52), in order to send advice or the like to an operator from a supervisor, a transmission line (31) of the outside line (3), a first transmission line (11) of the operator terminal (10), which is one of two transmission lines included in the operator terminal (10), a reception line (13) of the operator terminal (10), a transmission line (21) and a reception line (22) of the supervisor terminal (20) are connected to one of the conference trunks (52), which has been captured from among the available conference trunks, and a second transmission line (12) of the operator terminal (10), which is one of the two transmission lines of the operator terminal (10), is connected to a reception line (32) of the outside line (3). Then, the three-way call connection state is established.