Contact Center Call Billing Status Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing contact center systems fail to accurately track when a call is connected to a human agent versus an automated agent, leading to incorrect billing for customers in jurisdictions where wait times with automated systems are not billable.
Innovation Solution
A method and system within a contact center that monitors ongoing calls, detects transitions between human and automated agents, and sends messages to the provider network to accurately reflect billing status, using SIP-based messages for communication with ISDN gateways.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the contact center system continuously monitors call status to distinguish between human and automated agents, then billing accuracy is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary billing status message system that acts as a mediator between the contact center switch and the provider network. This intermediary layer processes call status information and generates appropriate billing messages (connected, on hold, transferred) without requiring complex modifications to existing infrastructure components.
Solution Approach 2:
The monitoring system is segmented into distinct functional components: call status detection, message generation, and message transmission. Each component handles a specific aspect of the billing tracking process, allowing for independent optimization and maintenance while reducing overall system complexity.
2Reliability
If the system sends multiple billing status messages to track call transitions, then regulatory compliance is improved, but communication overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements periodic billing status messaging based on call state transitions rather than continuous messaging. Messages are sent at specific intervals when the call state changes (e.g., when a human agent connects, when the call goes on hold, when transfer occurs), reducing communication overhead while maintaining regulatory compliance.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from call status monitoring to trigger appropriate billing messages only when necessary. The monitoring component provides feedback about call state changes, and the billing message generator responds by sending messages only when the call state transitions occur, avoiding redundant communications.
Data Source
AI summary
Tracking a status of an ongoing call includes monitoring, by a computer of a contact center, the ongoing call that is connected with a human agent and that originated from a provider network and determining when an automated agent instead of the human agent is connected with the ongoing call. The computer of the contact center can then send a first message to the provider network, wherein the first message comprises first data indicative that the automated agent instead of the human agent is connected with the ongoing call.