Emotion Detection in Contact Center Routing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing contact center systems fail to detect changes in a customer's emotional state as their communication progresses through different stages, leading to poor decision-making in routing and processing.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that continuously detect emotions at various steps of a communication, using emotion detection systems integrated with contact centers, allowing for real-time adjustments in routing, agent selection, and scripting based on changing emotional states.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If emotion detection is performed only at a single point in time during communication, then the system complexity is reduced, but the accuracy of routing decisions deteriorates because emotional state changes are not captured
Solution Approach 1:
The communication process is divided into multiple discrete steps or stages (e.g., initial contact, problem description, resolution discussion). Emotion detection is performed separately at each step rather than continuously, allowing the system to capture emotional state changes at critical decision points while managing computational resources effectively.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs emotion detection at predetermined steps in the communication flow before routing decisions are made. By establishing detection points in advance at key stages, the system ensures comprehensive emotional state monitoring without requiring continuous real-time analysis, thus balancing accuracy with system complexity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If continuous emotion monitoring is implemented throughout the communication process, then the adaptability of routing decisions is improved, but the processing time and computational resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
Continuous monitoring is segmented into discrete detection points at specific communication steps. This allows the system to maintain adaptability by capturing emotional states at critical moments while reducing processing time compared to truly continuous monitoring. The segmentation enables selective analysis at key decision points rather than constant processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The emotion detection system operates throughout the communication process by establishing detection at multiple steps, ensuring continuous capture of emotional state changes. This maintains adaptability in routing decisions while the structured approach to detection points optimizes processing efficiency compared to unstructured continuous monitoring.
3Reliability
If emotion detection is performed at multiple steps in communication, then the reliability of customer service is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The communication process is divided into multiple steps with emotion detection performed at each step. This segmentation approach improves reliability by capturing emotional state changes at critical moments while managing system complexity through structured, modular detection points rather than a monolithic complex system.
Solution Approach 2:
The emotion detection system serves multiple functions: it monitors emotional states at different steps, provides data for routing decisions, and enables adaptive customer service. By making the detection system multi-functional across different communication stages, the patent improves reliability without proportionally increasing complexity, as the same detection infrastructure serves multiple purposes.
Data Source
AI summary
The system and method establish a communication with a first party. A first emotion is detected during a first step during the communication. Steps in the communication can include: establishing a call, waiting in a queue, talking with an agent, communicating with an IVR system, and the like. A second emotion is detected at a different step in the communication. Alternatively, the first and second emotions are detected in two different but related communications. The detection of the first and/or second emotion determines how to process the communication. Examples of processing a communication can include routing the communication differently, selecting a different script for an agent, selecting a different agent, and the like. In addition, the communication can also be processed differently based on other additional parameters.