Urgent Call Detection in Answering Service Systems
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Solution Overview
Problem
In situations where professionals such as funeral directors are unavailable to answer urgent calls, existing answering services wait until the call is terminated to contact the professional, leading to delayed communication with grieving clients who prefer direct contact for immediate support and service initiation.
Innovation Solution
A computing system within the answering service that identifies urgent calls and initiates contact with the professional before the call is terminated, allowing the professional to join the call and provide immediate comfort and collect necessary information.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If the answering service waits until the call is terminated to contact the professional, then the professional can be contacted without interrupting ongoing calls, but the communication with urgent callers is delayed
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by detecting urgent calls during the call and initiating contact with the professional before the call terminates. The computing system monitors call characteristics, identifies urgent situations, and proactively reaches out to the professional, allowing them to prepare and potentially join the call without waiting for its natural conclusion.
2Productivity
If the professional is contacted during an ongoing call, then immediate communication is enabled, but the professional may be disturbed from attending to the first client
Solution Approach 1:
The computing system acts as an intermediary between the urgent caller and the professional. It detects the urgent call, assesses its nature, and mediates the contact by determining the appropriate timing and method to reach the professional. This intermediary role filters and manages the disturbance, allowing urgent matters to be communicated while respecting the professional's current commitments.
3Loss of information
If the answering service collects all information before contacting the professional, then the professional receives complete information, but the overall process takes longer
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary information gathering during the ongoing call rather than waiting until its termination. The computing system collects relevant call information, assesses urgency, and initiates professional contact with the information already available, enabling parallel processing of information collection and professional notification.
Solution Approach 2:
The system maintains continuous useful action by simultaneously collecting information from the ongoing call while contacting the professional. Rather than pausing information collection to contact the professional or vice versa, the system performs both actions in parallel, ensuring information flow continues uninterrupted while the professional is notified of the urgent matter.
Data Source
AI summary
A computing system of an answering service answers an incoming call from a calling party on behalf of a called party, and allows an agent to converse with the calling party relating to a purpose of the incoming call from the calling party. At a triggering point, a signal is received from the agent while the incoming call from the calling party is still in progress. The triggering point occurs when the agent determines that the calling party is calling regarding a predetermined urgent matter. Contact with the called party is commenced upon receiving the signal and communication between the calling party and the called party is effectuated while the incoming call from the calling party is still in progress.