Hosted Campaign Management System Indirect ACD Monitoring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing web-based hosted solutions for managing interactive communication campaigns face challenges in deployment time and integration complexity due to the need for a direct connection with on-premises call center Automatic Call Distributors (ACDs), leading to costly and operational issues.
Innovation Solution
A web-based managed service system that allows business entities to create and manage communication campaigns without a direct connection to the call center ACD, using a web interface to define rules that trigger control actions based on inferred call center performance, enabling real-time adjustments to campaigns and providing notification alerts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a direct connection between the hosted solution and the call center ACD is implemented, then real-time call center performance data can be obtained, but deployment time increases and integration complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary component (call data interface) that sits between the hosted solution and the call center ACD. This intermediary collects and processes call center performance data, then makes it available to the hosted solution through standard interfaces, eliminating the need for direct complex integration while maintaining real-time monitoring capabilities
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the integration complexity from the main hosted solution by separating the call center interface functionality into a distinct, reusable component. This allows the core hosted solution to remain simple while still accessing call center performance data through the extracted interface layer
2Reliability
If a direct connection between the hosted solution and the call center ACD is implemented, then real-time call center performance data can be obtained, but deployment time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by pre-configuring the call data interface with standard connection protocols and data formats. This allows the interface to be deployed quickly without requiring custom integration work for each call center, significantly reducing deployment time while maintaining real-time monitoring capabilities
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the integration process into independent, modular components that can be deployed separately and configured independently. This modular approach allows the call data interface to be implemented without affecting the core hosted solution, reducing overall deployment time
3Reliability
If a direct connection between the hosted solution and the call center ACD is implemented, then real-time call center performance data can be obtained, but operational issues and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal call data interface that can work with multiple different call center ACD systems through standard protocols. This multi-functional interface eliminates the need for custom integration for each call center vendor, reducing operational costs and simplifying maintenance while maintaining reliable performance monitoring
Data Source
AI summary
A web-based hosted solution through which business entities create and manage communications campaigns, such as interactive campaigns that afford target recipients an opportunity to be connected to a third party call center. A web interface is provided to enable a business entity customer to create a set of one or more rules that, when triggered during the campaign, cause the hosted solution to take certain control actions in real-time, based on campaign performance. Preferably, this “campaign performance” is measured indirectly, i.e. without requiring a direct connection to an on-premises call center ACD. Rather, preferably all information about the call center's performance during the campaign is derived from information (gathered by the hosted solution) about calls delivered, or attempted to be delivered, to the call center. In effect, the call center performance is inferred, and this performance is then exposed to the business entity customer through a web-based interface. In particular, the interface provides the business entity customer with a convenient and easy-to-use display that identifies any rule that has been (or may be getting ready to be) triggered, together with a then current status of the campaign. The system is programmed to take a given control action (e.g., campaign suspension, adjusting an outbound call rate, or the like) when a customer-configurable rule is triggered.