Patent Grant
7953859
The present invention is directed generally to contact center management and specifically to monitoring selected contact center events.
Contact centers, such as Automatic Call Distribution or ACD systems, are employed by many enterprises to service customer contacts. A typical contact center includes a switch and/or server to receive and route incoming packet-switched and/or circuit-switched contacts and one or more resources, such as human agents and automated resources (e.g., Interactive Voice Response (IVR) units), to service the incoming contacts. Contact centers distribute contacts, whether inbound or outbound, for servicing to any suitable resource according to predefined criteria. In many existing systems, the criteria for servicing the contact from the moment that the contact center becomes aware of the contact until the contact is connected to an agent are customer-specifiable (i.e., programmable by the operator of the contact center), via a capability called call vectoring. Normally in present-day ACDs when the ACD system's controller detects that an agent has become available to handle a call, the controller identifies all predefined call-handling skills of the agent (usually in some order of priority) and delivers to the agent the highest-priority oldest-waiting call that matches the agent's highest-priority skill. Generally, the only condition that results in a call not being delivered to an available agent is that there are no calls waiting to be handled.
Most present-day contact-distribution algorithms focus on being “fair” to contactors and agents. This fairness is reflected by the standard first-in, first-out call to most-idle-agent assignment algorithm. Skills-based routing improves upon this basic algorithm in that it allows each agent to be slotted into a number of categories (splits) based on the agent's skill types and levels.
The primary objective of contact center management, including call-distribution algorithms, is to ultimately maximize call center performance and profitability. That may involve minimizing cost, maximizing call throughput, and/or maximizing revenue, among others. For example, when a new call arrives, the call should be handled by an agent who either has the ability to produce the most revenue or can handle the call in the shortest amount of time. Also, when an agent becomes available to handle a new call, the agent should handle either the call that has the possibility of generating the most revenue or the call which the agent is most efficient in handling.
To realize the objectives of optimized contact center performance and profitability, various algorithms have been developed to monitor and track selected contact center events. For example, the Services for Computer Supported Telecommunications Applications (CSTA) standard 269 of the European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA) defines relationships among calls, connections, and devices. The CSTA standard specifies that the identification of a call changes when the call is conferenced or transferred and that a “call”, whether it represents voice, email, or messaging, involves only a single channel. The CSTA standard does not specify how calls, connections, and devices are to be tracked for reporting. It only specifies the states of calls, connections and devices before and after the operations it defines and the events that are emitted as a result of the operations. Current Avaya™ Customer Resource Management™ products, such as Basic Call Management System or BCMS™, Call Management System or CMS™, and Operational Analyst™, have data models that provide only limited details. BCMS has only a summary of the total time that calls spent on hold at an agent. It has neither further detail on the calls held nor information on conferences and transfers in its call record structure. CMS has more detailed information on held calls, conferences, and transfers in its call record structure. CMS tracks which agent held a call, how many times and for how long, when there is more than one agent on a call. However, CMS does not record when the call was put on hold by which participants and when the call was removed from hold by each party. Avaya's Multi-Media Contact Center™ tracks summary data, in a manner similar to CMS, and has a data model supporting detailed tracking of contacts as well. The data model does not support tracking for conferences involving multiple external parties nor for multi-channel contacts. In short, none of BCMS, CMS, or the Multi-Media Contact Center addresses multi-channel or multi-state contact tracking, since they are generally directed to voice contacts. Finally, existing data warehouse models in the data warehousing industry provide, at most, only limited information on contacts. Existing models tend to focus on customer and billing information from sales and marketing systems but typically do not contain structures that support interaction details. The models fail to provide the granular details that will allow contact centers to analyze the details of individual contacts.
There is a need for a contact monitoring/tracking algorithm that provides details on contact history in a contact center, including details on changes in state and channel during the customer/contact center interaction.
These and other needs are addressed by the various embodiments and configurations of the present invention. The present invention is generally directed to a method for tracking multi-channel and/or multi-party contacts. A “contact” refers to an interaction between selected parties/entities over one or more channels. The parties/entities can be human, such as a customer, agent, and supervisor, or nonhuman, such as an Interactive Voice Response unit, a Web server, content analyzer, email server, and the like.
In one embodiment, a contact center is provided that includes:
(a) a plurality of resources (e.g., human agents, automated entities such as an IVR unit, etc.) for servicing a plurality of inbound and/or outbound customer contacts;
(b) a switching fabric (e.g., a switch and/or server) for configuring a communication session (e.g., a live voice call, instant messaging session, and chat session) between a first customer and a first resource for servicing of the first customer's contact by the first resource; and
(c) a contact tracking agent that, during the servicing of the first customer by the first resource, monitors the first resource's endpoint for the occurrence of one or more of (i) a change in contact state, (ii) the connection of the first resource and the first customer through a new communication channel, and (iii) the addition of a party to and/or removal of a party from the communication session and, when one or more of the above events occurs, terminates a first contact part and creates a second contact part.
The channel/communication medium used by the contact refers to a communication technique, pathway, or method as defined, governed, or enabled by one or more selected protocols (e.g., a packet-based protocol such as TCP/IP, RTP, and RTCP, an asynchronous transfer mode protocol, and a frame relay protocol or a circuit-switched protocol), algorithms (e.g., software applications, such as E-mail, Web browsers, instant messaging, text chat, Integrated Services Digital Network or ISDN, QSIG, DPNSS, SIP, H.323, VDP, and SGCP, etc.) switches or routers, and/or communication medium (e.g., twisted wire, coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, wireless, cellular, and PCS™ of U.S. Sprint). For example, voice-only wired telephone communications over the PSTN represent one channel, voice-over-IP telephony yet another channel, voice-only wireless telephone communications a further channel, non-voice IP telephony (e.g., a text web chat) a further channel, multi-media telephony (e.g., a video stream, an audio/video call, etc.) over the PSTN a further channel, instant messaging over the data network a further channel, a Web conference over the Internet a further channel, e-mail over the data network a further channel, a facsimile over a circuit-switched or packet-switched medium a further channel, etc.
The “state” of a contact refers to the existing or current condition or status of a contact, such as active, inactive, enqueued (or in queue), ringing, on hold, and, terminating.
A “contact part” represents a single party, contact state and/or communication channel in a contact or communication session. Typically, the contact part is based collectively on a single party, contact state, and channel. A contact part can thus be the smallest measurable part of a communication. Typically, a new contact part is created, and a prior contact part terminated, whenever a monitored party and/or channel is added or dropped and/or experiences a state change. In contrast, the contact maintains its identification throughout its lifetime, regardless of the number of parties and channels that are involved. At least one (and probably more) contact part(s) is/are created for every party/endpoint in the contact, including customers, agents, automated resources, and any other entity that participates in the contact. In other words, each endpoint to the contact or communication session is commonly monitored independently and separately. Thus, a first endpoint in a communication session can have a first contact part and a second endpoint in the same communication session can have a second contact part that temporally overlaps the first contact part. The use of a contact part can allow tracking the time that each party in the contact spends communicating and on hold (or the equivalent) as well as providing the complete picture of who joined the contact, at what point, and for how long.
Using the concept of the “contact part”, other data structures can be created to provide more detail in tracking the contact. For example, a “contact part related” refers to the relationship of two contact parts. “Contact part related” shows the reason for the relationship, particularly if one contact part generated the next contact part. It is typically used to capture the cause and effect between two contact parts. A “contact media interaction” refers to the media-specific characteristics of a contact.
The present invention can provide a number of advantages over the prior art. For example, the contact part provides a complete and detailed record of all states, participants, and channels involved in a given contact from the time the contact reaches or is launched by a contact center until it is terminated. The contact part and related entities thus allow accurate and detailed reporting of complex interactions with regard to the involvement of each party and communication channel. Examples of such contacts include conference calls where parties join and leave the conference during the course of the contact and voice chat sessions where parties add and drop the voice channel to an existing Web chat. As noted, conventional architectures generally provide either summary reporting (such as the number of times an agent held a call) or detailed reporting only on certain parties involved in such interactions. The prior does not track multi-party contacts. Additionally, the present invention can support reporting at higher levels with less detail that may be more comprehensible to users of reports than the low-level detail captured. The ability to accurately track multi-party and multi-channel contacts can enable contact center administrators and managers to identify not only more effective and/or inexpensive ways to service customer contacts but also more effective ways to manage limited contact center resources.
These and other advantages will be apparent from the disclosure of the invention(s) contained herein.
The above-described embodiments and configurations are neither complete nor exhaustive. As will be appreciated, other embodiments of the invention are possible utilizing, alone or in combination, one or more of the features set forth above or described in detail below.
The invention will be illustrated below in conjunction with an exemplary communication system. Although well suited for use with, e.g., a system having an ACD or other similar contact processing switch, the invention is not limited to use with any particular type of communication system switch or configuration of system elements. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosed techniques may be used in any communication application in which it is desirable to provide improved contact processing.
The term “switch” or “server” as used herein should be understood to include a PBX, an ACD, an enterprise switch, or other type of telecommunications system switch or server, as well as other types of processor-based communication control devices such as media servers, computers, adjuncts, etc.
Referring to
The switch 130 and/or server 110 can be any architecture for directing contacts to one or more telecommunication devices. Illustratively, the switch and/or server can be a modified form of the subscriber-premises equipment disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,192,122; 6,173,053; 6,163,607; 5,982,873; 5,905,793; 5,828,747; and 5,206,903, all of which are incorporated herein by this reference; Avaya Inc.'s Definity™ Private-Branch Exchange (PBX)-based ACD system; MultiVantage™ PBX, CRM Central 2000 Server™, Communication Manager™, S8300™ media server, and/or Avaya Interaction Center™. Typically, the switch/server is a stored-program-controlled system that conventionally includes interfaces to external communication links, a communications switching fabric, service circuits (e.g., tone generators, announcement circuits, etc.), memory for storing control programs and data, and a processor (i.e., a computer) for executing the stored control programs to control the interfaces and the fabric and to provide automatic contact-distribution functionality. The switch and/or server typically include a network interface card (not shown) to provide services to the serviced telecommunication devices. Other types of known switches and servers are well known in the art and therefore not described in detail herein.
Referring to
Referring to
The first telecommunication devices 134-1, . . . 134-N are packet-switched and can include, for example, IP hardphones such as the Avaya Inc.'s, 4600 Series IP Phones™, IP softphones such as Avaya Inc.'s, IP Softphone™, Personal Digital Assistants or PDAs, Personal Computers or PCs, laptops, packet-based H.320 video phones and conferencing units, packet-based voice messaging and response units, packet-based traditional computer telephony adjuncts, and any other communication device.
The second telecommunication devices 138-1, . . . 138-M are circuit-switched. Each of the telecommunication devices 138-1, . . . 138-M corresponds to one of a set of internal extensions Ext1, . . . ExtM, respectively. These extensions are referred to herein as “internal” in that they are extensions within the premises that are directly serviced by the switch. More particularly, these extensions correspond to conventional telecommunication device endpoints serviced by the switch/server, and the switch/server can direct incoming calls to and receive outgoing calls from these extensions in a conventional manner. The second telecommunication devices can include, for example, wired and wireless telephones, PDAs, H.320 video phones and conferencing units, voice messaging and response units, traditional computer telephony adjuncts, and any other communication device.
It should be noted that the invention does not require any particular type of information transport medium between switch or server and first and second telecommunication devices, i.e., the invention may be implemented with any desired type of transport medium as well as combinations of different types of transport channels.
The packet-switched network 162 can be any data and/or distributed processing network, such as the Internet. The network 162 typically includes proxies (not shown), registrars (not shown), and routers (not shown) for managing packet flows.
The packet-switched network 162 is in communication with an external first telecommunication device 174 via a gateway 178, and the circuit-switched network 154 with an external second telecommunication device 180. These telecommunication devices are referred to as “external” in that they are not directly supported as telecommunication device endpoints by the switch or server. The telecommunication devices 174 and 180 are an example of devices more generally referred to herein as “external endpoints.”
In a preferred configuration, the server 110, network 162, and first telecommunication devices 134 are Session Initiation Protocol or SIP compatible and can include interfaces for various other protocols such as the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol or LDAP, H.248, H.323, Simple Mail Transfer Protocol or SMTP, IMAP4, ISDN, E1/T1, and analog line or trunk.
It should be emphasized that the configuration of the switch, server, user telecommunication devices, and other elements as shown in
As will be appreciated, the central server 110 is notified via LAN 142 of an incoming contact by the telecommunications component (e.g., switch 130, fax server, email server, web server, and/or other server) receiving the incoming contact. The incoming contact is held by the receiving telecommunications component until the server 110 forwards instructions to the component to forward or route the contact to a specific contact center resource, such as the IVR unit 122, the voice mail server 118, and/or first or second telecommunication device 134, 138 associated with a selected agent. The server 110 distributes and connects these contacts to telecommunication devices of available agents based on the predetermined criteria noted above. When the central server 110 forwards a voice contact to an agent, the central server 110 also forwards customer-related information from databases 114 to the agent's computer work station for viewing (such as by a pop-up display) to permit the agent to better serve the customer. The agents process the contacts sent to them by the central server 110. This embodiment is particularly suited for a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) environment in which customers are permitted to use any media to contact a business. In a CRM environment, both real-time and non-real-time contacts must be handled and distributed with equal efficiency and effectiveness.
According to the invention, included among the programs executing on the server 110 is a contact tracking agent 232. The agent 232 is stored either in the main memory or in a peripheral memory (e.g., disk, CD ROM, etc.) or some other computer-readable medium of the center 100. The agent 232 collects detailed information on incoming and/or outgoing contacts in the contact center using the concept of a “contact part”. A “contact” is composed of one or more contact parts and maintains its identification throughout its lifetime, regardless of the number of parties, states, and channels involved. The actions of each party or endpoint are monitored independently to identify the addition/removal of parties and/or channel and state changes. The collected granular contact details can be analyzed by the CMS and provided to contact center management in a user configurable reports that can be used to maximize contact center efficiency.
A selected endpoint to a contact generally has one or associated contact parts during the course of the contact. For a selected endpoint, a new contact part is created and a current contact part is terminated when a party and/or channel is added and/or dropped and a state changes. Examples of activities or events that will result in multiple contact parts for a contact, include the contact changes state from “created” to “qualification”, a text chat contact becomes voice chat by adding voice transfers, an additional party is conferenced into an existing contact, and an existing contact is transferred from one agent to another agent.
The concept of a contact part gives rise to several related data entities, including contact part related, contact participation group, contact part purpose, contact part related reason, contact media interaction, contact media interaction disposition, contact part qualifier, contact part delivery source, contact part disposition, contact part routing method, contact part wait treatment, contact qualifier, dialed number purpose, disposition, media, party login, routing construct, routing construct contact part, state reason, step, and step contact part.
The relationships among these objects are illustrated in
As can be seen from the figures, the attributes for contact 300 include contact ID (an internally generated unique identifier of a contact); contact type code (which identifies the type of contact), outbound contact initiation method, customer ID (the identifier(s) of the customer(s) engaged in the contact), data source ID, party ID (the identifier(s) of the parties to the contact), business role code, party role start datetime (the date/time that the system recognizes that the party may play a role in interactions with the enterprise), contact direction code, and contact direction description.
The attributes for contact part 304 include contact type code, media code (which identifies the type of media/medium used during the contact part), contact part ID (which uniquely identifies the contact part), contact ID (which uniquely identifies the contact of which the contact part is a subpart), state ID (which identifies the state of the corresponding monitored endpoint to which the contact part corresponds), contact media interaction start datetime (the date/time that the contact media interaction started), party ID, business role code, party role start datetime, wait treatment ID, active media mask (a mapping of possible media types and their direction), contact part delivery source code, UCID (Universal Call Identifier), contact part datetime started (the date/time that the contact part started), contact part datetime stopped (the date/time that the contact part stopped), observing call flag, trunk ID, contact part routing method code, contact part purpose code, extension ID, routing construct ID, contact part subject (a text description of the subject of the message), contact participation group ID, contact direction code, malicious call flag, queue priority, login ID, login start date/time, data source ID, reschedule datetime (time stamp indicating when the contact connected to this part will be rescheduled to make another attempt), contact control indicator, state reason ID, calling number ID (the number dialed by the originator of the contact), and dialed number purpose ID.
A contact part related 308 refers to or describes the relationship of two contact parts. It shows not only the relationship between two related contact parts but also the reason for the relationship, particularly when a first contact part generated (or immediately preceded) a second contact part. For example, the contact part related would link or associate first and second contact parts that emanated from the same contact. The attributes for contact part related 308 include contact part ID (which uniquely identifies the associated contact part(s)), child contact part ID (which uniquely identifies the contact part(s) (if any) immediately succeeding or generated from the subject contact part), state ID, contact ID, contact type code, media code, contact media interaction start datetime, party ID, business role code, party role start datetime, contact part related create datetime (the date/time when the contact part related was created), and contact part related reason code.
A contact participation group 312 identifies the simultaneous participation of multiple parties in a contact. It also distinguishes between instances of simultaneous participation in a contact. For example, a single contact may involve one or more conferences between differing sets of individuals. The contact participation group identifies all of the contact parts that were part of or emanated from the same contact. The contact part differs from the contact participation group in that the contact participation group shows the relationship of all contact parts in a group or set of contact parts, such as the participation of five parties in the same conference call or if the same contact involves multiple conferenced calls. All of the members in a group of contact parts are included in the contact participation group with a reason for their participation in the conference. Contact part related, in contrast, may show that the relationship between the hosting party's contact part and one of the conferee's contact part had a reason of added to conference or dropped from the conference for the relationship. By way of illustration of the differences between the two objects, when a party is added to a conference, the party will join the existing contact group that represents the same conference, and a contact part related instance is created to show that that individual contact part was added to the contact part that represents the host of the conference. The attributes for contact participation group 312 include contact participation group ID (a code uniquely identifying the associated contact participation group), contact participation group type code (a code corresponding to the type of contact participation group (e.g., multi-party conference)), contact participation group description (a text description of the contact participation group and is generally used to provide the business context in relation to the specific contact), and source system contact participation group ID.
Contact part purpose 316 classifies the purpose of the contact part, such as business, and personal, and contact part related reason 320 provides the reason that a first contact part is related to a second contact part, such as conference, and transfer. The attributes for contact part purpose 316 include contact part purpose code (which identifies the corresponding purpose of the contact part) and contact segment purpose description (which is a text description of the contact segment purpose). The attributes for contact part related reason 320 include contact part related reason code (which identifies the corresponding contact part related reason) and contact part related reason description (which is a text description of the reason for contact part relationships).
Contact media interaction 324 describes the media-specific characteristics of a contact. When there is more than one medium or sets of media associated with a given contact at different times, there is typically more than one contact media interaction associated with the contact. There may also be more than one contact media interaction for the same medium during a contact when the use of the medium is temporally discontinuous during the contact. By way of example, for email it is allowed and probable that there will be more than one media interaction using the same medium (email) for a single contact. This is possible because of tracking information that is carried in the email subject line that links “sends” with “replies”. A media interaction starts when at least one party begins using a medium to process a contact. The media interaction continues as long as any party involved in the contact is using the medium continuously. The media interaction ends when all parties involved in the contact are no longer using the medium. The attributes for contact media interaction 324 include contact ID, contact type code, media code, contact media interaction start datetime (the date/time that the contact media interaction started), language code, email header, email subject, email text, voice calling telephone number (the number of the calling telephone), voice called number, chat username, media protocol, email tracking number (an identifier used to track a thread of emails), email message ID (a unique identifier of an email message), and contact media interaction stop datetime (the date/time that the contact media interaction stopped).
Contact media interaction disposition 326 is the disposition of an instance of using a specific media as part of a contact. For example an email is actually an extended conversation that the contact can stop and resume as a different contact when some action is taken. At each of these points, the Electronic Data Unit or EDU retires. So for example when an agent sends a question to a Subject Matter Expert or SME agent the email is completed until they get a response back. The task is then recreated as a different contact. What the contact media interaction disposition is intended for is for the transient state of the email at the end of the specific interaction. The attributes for contact media interaction disposition 326 include contact ID, contact type code, media code, contact media interaction start datetime (the date/time that the contact media interaction started), disposition code (which identifies the corresponding disposition), and contact media interaction disposition start datetime (the date/time that the contact media interaction disposition occurred).
Contact part contact qualifier 328 is the assignment of abilities or characteristics to an instance of a party taking part in a contact, and contact part delivery source 332 is the source of the contact as it relates to an enterprise network. A contact may have qualifiers before being assigned to a routing construct, and the contact may never be assigned to a routing construct. The contact part delivery source identifies whether the contact was generated from within the organization or from some external point. Examples of contact part delivery source include “internal” and “external”. The attributes for contact part contact qualifier 328 include contact part contact qualifier start datetime (the date/time that a qualifier applies to a contact part), contact qualifier ID, contact type code, media code, contact part ID, contact ID, state ID, contact media interaction start datetime, party ID, business role code, and party role start datetime (the date/time that a party may play a role in interactions with the enterprise network). The attributes for contact part delivery source 332 include contact part delivery source code and contact part delivery source description
Contact part disposition 330 refers to the business result of a contact part, such as sale made, order place, and abandoned from hold, and contact part routing method 334 is the source of the contact part. Examples of sources include transferred from another agent, a direct call to an agent, transferred from an outbound dialer, and routed by an ACD. The attributes for contact part disposition 330 include disposition code, contact part ID, state ID, contact ID, contact type code, media code, contact media interaction start datetime, party ID, business role code, party role start datetime, and contact part disposition start datetime (the date/time that the system recorded a contact part disposition). The attributes for contact part routing method 334 include contact part routing method code (which identifies the corresponding contact part routing method) and contact part routing method description (which is a text description of the routing method used for the contact part).
Contact qualifier 336 refers to a characteristic, skill or ability that classifies an individual in terms of handling of a contact. The qualifier may be the ability of the agent to handle customers with a characteristic or the characteristic as it applies to the customer. Qualifiers are used to segment customers and to discriminate among customers in the assignment of processing resources. The attributes for contact qualifier 336 include contact qualifier ID, contact qualifier name, acceptable service level, contact qualifier description, source system contact qualifier ID, and data source ID.
The dialed number purpose 338 refers to the business purpose assigned to the dialed number. For example, 1-800-555-1212 is assigned to platinum customers who were offered a special discount on product X. The attributes for dialed number purpose 338 include dialed number purpose ID and dialed number purpose.
Disposition 340 is a description of the business value of the result of the interaction. Examples include successful contact, failed contact attempt, sale made, order placed, and the like. The attributes for disposition 340 include disposition code, disposition description (a text description of the disposition), disposition group code, disposition type code, data source ID, and disposition explanation (a free form text description of the disposition to allow parties to enter additional discussion that explains the business result of a call).
Media 344 refers to the category of transport used for a contact. Examples include email, postal, voice, Web, and the like. The attributes for media 344 include media code, media description (a text description of the media), last name (the surname of the party), title (the title of the party), name type code, data source ID, and preferred name (the preferred name of the party).
Party login 346 refers to the logins used a party to access systems within the enterprise. The attributes for party login 346 include login ID, login start datetime, party ID, business role code, data source ID, party role start datetime, and login end datetime.
Routing construct 350 refers to a logical or physical location for the collection and routing of contacts to agents or to other routing constructs. Routing constructs include a hunt group, an extension group, a split, a skill, a service class, a queue, a job, and a VDN. The attributes for routing construct 350 include routing construct ID (which identifies the corresponding routing construct), switch ID (which identifies the routing switch), routing construct description, routing construct name, routing construct start date/time, routing construct end date/time, data source ID, routing construct type code, virtual queue ID, marketing event ID, campaign ID, routing construct real time indicator, estimated average handling time, party ID, business role code, and party role start datetime.
State reason 354 refers to the reason that a state 356 exists or comes into being. It is often used to provide additional explanation surrounding the transition to state. For example, a contact state of “terminated”, may occur due to an abandon, a disconnect, a transfer, or an email dismissal. In the example, “abandon”, “disconnect”, etc. will be the state reason. The attributes for state reason 354 include state reason ID and state reason description (a text description of the state reason). The attributes for state 356 include state ID, state group ID, state name, state created date/time (the date/time that the system recorded a new state), state description (a text description of the state), state type code, data source ID, and source system state ID.
Step 358 is the smallest unit of work in the business process hierarchy. A step may be any executable action taken within the system by a party that can be administered and/or recorded. It may span time, work and multiple contacts. Step 358 is the instance of the lowest level of a business process taking place. In other words, a step contains the details that result from discrete business activity. Examples of steps include process Joe Smith's individual loan application, provide standard product information, check Joe Smith's credit status, and communicate the decision to Joe Smith. The attributes for step 358 include step 1D (which identifies the corresponding step), work item ID (which identifies the corresponding work item), business process ID (which identifies the corresponding business process), step start datetime (the date/time that the system records the existence of a step), step close datetime (the date/time that the system recognizes that the step is closed), and data source ID.
Contact part wait treatment 362 refers to the wait treatment applied to the participant during a selected contact part; routing construct contact part 366 identifies the use of a routing construct to queue or deliver a contact part; and step contact part 368 refers to the association between a contact part and a step. Step contact parts record the details of a communication that may take place in the processing of a step. A single contact may be associated with many steps, and a step may be associated with many contact parts. As will be appreciated, other activity that does not require communication may occur in the processing of a step. The attributes for contact part wait treatment 362 include wait treatment ID (which identifies the corresponding wait treatment), wait treatment description (which is a text description of the wait treatment), source system wait treatment ID, and data source ID. The attributes for routing construct contact part 366 include routing construct contact part start datetime (the date/time that a contact part begins to be routed via a routing construct), a contact type code, a media code, a contact part ID, a contact ID, a state ID, a contact media interaction start datetime, a party ID, a business role code, a party role start datetime, a routing construct ID, a routing construct contact part end datetime (the date/time that a contact part's routing via a routing construct ends). The attributes for step contact part 368 include contact media interaction start datetime, contact ID, contact type code, media code, step 1D, contact part ID, state ID, party ID, business role code, party role start datetime (the date/time that a party may play a role in interactions with the enterprise), step contact part start datetime (the date/time that the system becomes aware that a contact part was associated with a step), and step contact part end datetime (the date/time that the system becomes aware that a contact part's association with a step ended).
The operation of the contact tracking agent 232 will now be described with reference to
In step 400, the agent 232 initializes all pertinent variables.
In decision diamond 404, the agent 232 waits for a new contact to be received by the contact center 100. It is important to note that a “contact” includes an attempt to communicate between a party inside or outside of a contact center and a party inside the contact center. The attempt may or may not be successful. The contact normally begins when a party inside the contact center initiates an attempt to communicate (e.g., dials a call, sends an email, etc.) or when a party outside the center 100 reaches a measured or monitored entity in the center (e.g., a VDN, Web page, email server, etc.). The contact includes wrap up time. The contact is finished when the last party terminates participation and completes any wrap up work associated with the communication.
When a new contact is detected, the agent 232 in step 408 creates a contact part for each monitored endpoint and proceeds with monitoring each of the endpoints. In decision diamonds 412, 416, 420, respectively, the agent 232 determines if a change in state, media or party (endpoint) has taken place. If so, the agent 324, in step 424, creates a new contact part for the endpoint effecting the change. Typically, the contact part for the other endpoint is unaffected by the change. In other words, a change only impacts the monitored endpoint experiencing the change. If no change is detected or after step 424 is completed, the agent 232 determines, in decision diamond 428, whether the contact has terminated. If not, the agent 232 returns to decision diamond 412. If so, the agent 232 proceeds to decision diamond 404 and awaits a next (new) contact.
To illustrate the operation of the agent 232 and the data objects in the data model, examples will now be discussed.
A first example is shown in
With reference to
When the call reaches the head of the queue, the endpoint of the selected agent, namely agent A, is contacted and has the state “alerting” indicating that the agent's phone is ringing. A fifth contact part 500d is created that corresponds to the endpoint of agent A. AT the same time, the state of the customer's endpoint changes from “queued” to “alerting”, indicating that the customer can hear a ring tone in his phone as the agent's endpoint is rung.
The agent answers the call and his state changes from “alerting” to “active” in a sixth contact part 500e, and the customer's state also changes from “alerting” to “active” in a seventh contact part 500f.
After a short discussion, the agent determines that the assistance of a second agent, namely agent B, is needed. The first agent places the customer on hold while he contacts the second agent. This sequence of events is reflected in the eighth through the twelfth contact parts 500g-k in which the customer's status changes to “inactive” and the first agent's status changes to “inactive”, “initiating”, and “alerting”. A contact part 500j is created for the second agent and corresponds to the “alerting” state.
The second agent answers the call so that his and the first agent's respective states each change to “active”. The first agent then joins the customer into the communication by removing the customer from hold. This is reflected in contact parts 500l-p.
The second agent places the other parties on hold as reflected by contact part 500q, while the other parties remain connected and active as reflected by contact part 500r.
The first agent disconnects from the call as shown by contact part 500s, leaving the customer on hold with the second agent.
The second agent takes the customer off hold in contact parts 500t and u such that both the second agent and customer are “active”.
Finally, both the second agent and customer disconnect in contact parts 500v and w, respectively.
The second example of
A number of variations and modifications of the invention can be used. It would be possible to provide for some features of the invention without providing others.
For example, the server and/or switch can be a software-controlled system including a processing unit (CPU), microprocessor, or other type of digital data processor executing software or an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) as well as various portions or combinations of such elements. The memory may be a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), or combinations of these and other types of electronic memory devices.
The agent can be configured to obtain more detailed information about the remote party's endpoint. In the typical implementation, the agent infers or assumes information about the remote party due to a lack of information from the remote party's endpoint/network about parties, states, and media. For example, the remote endpoint could conference in another party or transfer the call to another endpoint without the knowledge of the tracking agent.
Any other suitable contact tracking algorithm may be employed. As will be appreciated, the algorithms of
The present invention, in various embodiments, includes components, methods, processes, systems and/or apparatus substantially as depicted and described herein, including various embodiments, subcombinations, and subsets thereof. Those of skill in the art will understand how to make and use the present invention after understanding the present disclosure. The present invention, in various embodiments, includes providing devices and processes in the absence of items not depicted and/or described herein or in various embodiments hereof, including in the absence of such items as may have been used in previous devices or processes, e.g., for improving performance, achieving ease and/or reducing cost of implementation.
The foregoing discussion of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. The foregoing is not intended to limit the invention to the form or forms disclosed herein. In the foregoing Detailed Description for example, various features of the invention are grouped together in one or more embodiments for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed invention requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive aspects lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into this Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate preferred embodiment of the invention.
Moreover though the description of the invention has included description of one or more embodiments and certain variations and modifications, other variations and modifications are within the scope of the invention, e.g., as may be within the skill and knowledge of those in the art, after understanding the present disclosure. It is intended to obtain rights which include alternative embodiments to the extent permitted, including alternate, interchangeable and/or equivalent structures, functions, ranges or steps to those claimed, whether or not such alternate, interchangeable and/or equivalent structures, functions, ranges or steps are disclosed herein, and without intending to publicly dedicate any patentable subject matter.
This application claims the benefits under 35 U.S.C. §119 of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/558,613, filed Mar. 31, 2004, of the same title and to the same inventors, which is incorporated herein by this reference.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4163124 | Jolissaint | Jul 1979 | A |
| 4510351 | Costello et al. | Apr 1985 | A |
| 4567323 | Lottes et al. | Jan 1986 | A |
| 4737983 | Frauenthal et al. | Apr 1988 | A |
| 4797911 | Szlam et al. | Jan 1989 | A |
| 4894857 | Szlam et al. | Jan 1990 | A |
| 5001710 | Gawrys et al. | Mar 1991 | A |
| 5097528 | Gursahaney et al. | Mar 1992 | A |
| 5101425 | Darland | Mar 1992 | A |
| 5155761 | Hammond | Oct 1992 | A |
| 5164981 | Mitchell et al. | Nov 1992 | A |
| 5164983 | Brown et al. | Nov 1992 | A |
| 5167010 | Elm et al. | Nov 1992 | A |
| 5185780 | Leggett | Feb 1993 | A |
| 5206903 | Kohler et al. | Apr 1993 | A |
| 5210789 | Jeffus et al. | May 1993 | A |
| 5274700 | Gechter et al. | Dec 1993 | A |
| 5278898 | Cambray et al. | Jan 1994 | A |
| 5289368 | Jordan et al. | Feb 1994 | A |
| 5291550 | Levy et al. | Mar 1994 | A |
| 5299260 | Shaio | Mar 1994 | A |
| 5309513 | Rose | May 1994 | A |
| 5311422 | Loftin et al. | May 1994 | A |
| 5325292 | Crockett | Jun 1994 | A |
| 5335268 | Kelly, Jr. et al. | Aug 1994 | A |
| 5335269 | Steinlicht | Aug 1994 | A |
| 5390243 | Casselman et al. | Feb 1995 | A |
| 5436965 | Grossman et al. | Jul 1995 | A |
| 5444774 | Friedes | Aug 1995 | A |
| 5467391 | Donaghue, Jr. et al. | Nov 1995 | A |
| 5469503 | Butensky et al. | Nov 1995 | A |
| 5469504 | Blaha | Nov 1995 | A |
| 5473773 | Aman et al. | Dec 1995 | A |
| 5479497 | Kovarik | Dec 1995 | A |
| 5499291 | Kepley | Mar 1996 | A |
| 5500795 | Powers et al. | Mar 1996 | A |
| 5504894 | Ferguson et al. | Apr 1996 | A |
| 5506898 | Costantini et al. | Apr 1996 | A |
| 5530744 | Charalambous et al. | Jun 1996 | A |
| 5537470 | Lee | Jul 1996 | A |
| 5537542 | Eilert et al. | Jul 1996 | A |
| 5544232 | Baker et al. | Aug 1996 | A |
| 5546452 | Andrews et al. | Aug 1996 | A |
| 5555299 | Maloney et al. | Sep 1996 | A |
| 5577169 | Prezioso | Nov 1996 | A |
| 5592378 | Cameron et al. | Jan 1997 | A |
| 5592542 | Honda et al. | Jan 1997 | A |
| 5594726 | Thompson et al. | Jan 1997 | A |
| 5603029 | Aman et al. | Feb 1997 | A |
| 5604892 | Nuttall et al. | Feb 1997 | A |
| 5606361 | Davidsohn et al. | Feb 1997 | A |
| 5611076 | Durflinger et al. | Mar 1997 | A |
| 5627884 | Williams et al. | May 1997 | A |
| 5642515 | Jones et al. | Jun 1997 | A |
| 5673205 | Brunson | Sep 1997 | A |
| 5684872 | Flockhart et al. | Nov 1997 | A |
| 5684964 | Powers et al. | Nov 1997 | A |
| 5689698 | Jones et al. | Nov 1997 | A |
| 5703943 | Otto | Dec 1997 | A |
| 5713014 | Durflinger et al. | Jan 1998 | A |
| 5721770 | Kohler | Feb 1998 | A |
| 5724092 | Davidsohn et al. | Mar 1998 | A |
| 5740238 | Flockhart et al. | Apr 1998 | A |
| 5742675 | Kilander et al. | Apr 1998 | A |
| 5742763 | Jones | Apr 1998 | A |
| 5748468 | Notenboom et al. | May 1998 | A |
| 5749079 | Yong et al. | May 1998 | A |
| 5751707 | Voit et al. | May 1998 | A |
| 5752027 | Familiar | May 1998 | A |
| 5754639 | Flockhart et al. | May 1998 | A |
| 5754776 | Hales et al. | May 1998 | A |
| 5754841 | Carino, Jr. | May 1998 | A |
| 5757904 | Anderson | May 1998 | A |
| 5781614 | Brunson | Jul 1998 | A |
| 5784452 | Carney | Jul 1998 | A |
| 5787410 | McMahon | Jul 1998 | A |
| 5790642 | Taylor et al. | Aug 1998 | A |
| 5790650 | Dunn et al. | Aug 1998 | A |
| 5790677 | Fox et al. | Aug 1998 | A |
| 5794250 | Carino, Jr. et al. | Aug 1998 | A |
| 5796393 | MacNaughton et al. | Aug 1998 | A |
| 5802282 | Hales et al. | Sep 1998 | A |
| 5802510 | Jones | Sep 1998 | A |
| 5818907 | Maloney et al. | Oct 1998 | A |
| 5819084 | Shapiro et al. | Oct 1998 | A |
| 5825869 | Brooks et al. | Oct 1998 | A |
| 5826039 | Jones | Oct 1998 | A |
| 5828747 | Fisher et al. | Oct 1998 | A |
| 5836011 | Hambrick et al. | Nov 1998 | A |
| 5838968 | Culbert | Nov 1998 | A |
| 5839117 | Cameron et al. | Nov 1998 | A |
| 5864874 | Shapiro | Jan 1999 | A |
| 5875437 | Atkins | Feb 1999 | A |
| 5880720 | Iwafune et al. | Mar 1999 | A |
| 5881238 | Aman et al. | Mar 1999 | A |
| 5884032 | Bateman et al. | Mar 1999 | A |
| 5889956 | Hauser et al. | Mar 1999 | A |
| 5897622 | Blinn et al. | Apr 1999 | A |
| 5903641 | Tonisson | May 1999 | A |
| 5903877 | Berkowitz et al. | May 1999 | A |
| 5905793 | Flockhart et al. | May 1999 | A |
| 5909669 | Havens | Jun 1999 | A |
| 5911134 | Castonguay et al. | Jun 1999 | A |
| 5914951 | Bentley et al. | Jun 1999 | A |
| 5915012 | Miloslavsky | Jun 1999 | A |
| 5923745 | Hurd | Jul 1999 | A |
| 5926538 | Deryugin et al. | Jul 1999 | A |
| 5930786 | Carino, Jr. et al. | Jul 1999 | A |
| 5937051 | Hurd et al. | Aug 1999 | A |
| 5937402 | Pandit | Aug 1999 | A |
| 5940496 | Gisby et al. | Aug 1999 | A |
| 5943416 | Gisby | Aug 1999 | A |
| 5948065 | Eilert et al. | Sep 1999 | A |
| 5960073 | Kikinis et al. | Sep 1999 | A |
| 5963635 | Szlam et al. | Oct 1999 | A |
| 5963911 | Walker et al. | Oct 1999 | A |
| 5970132 | Brady | Oct 1999 | A |
| 5974135 | Breneman et al. | Oct 1999 | A |
| 5974462 | Aman et al. | Oct 1999 | A |
| 5982873 | Flockhart et al. | Nov 1999 | A |
| 5987117 | McNeil et al. | Nov 1999 | A |
| 5991392 | Miloslavsky | Nov 1999 | A |
| 5996013 | Delp et al. | Nov 1999 | A |
| 5999963 | Bruno et al. | Dec 1999 | A |
| 6000832 | Franklin et al. | Dec 1999 | A |
| 6011844 | Uppaluru et al. | Jan 2000 | A |
| 6014437 | Acker et al. | Jan 2000 | A |
| 6031896 | Gardell et al. | Feb 2000 | A |
| 6038293 | Mcnerney et al. | Mar 2000 | A |
| 6038296 | Brunson et al. | Mar 2000 | A |
| 6044144 | Becker et al. | Mar 2000 | A |
| 6044205 | Reed et al. | Mar 2000 | A |
| 6044355 | Crockett et al. | Mar 2000 | A |
| 6049547 | Fisher et al. | Apr 2000 | A |
| 6049779 | Berkson | Apr 2000 | A |
| 6052723 | Ginn | Apr 2000 | A |
| 6055308 | Miloslavsky et al. | Apr 2000 | A |
| 6064730 | Ginsberg | May 2000 | A |
| 6064731 | Flockhart et al. | May 2000 | A |
| 6084954 | Harless et al. | Jul 2000 | A |
| 6088441 | Flockhart et al. | Jul 2000 | A |
| 6108670 | Weida et al. | Aug 2000 | A |
| 6115462 | Servi et al. | Sep 2000 | A |
| 6128304 | Gardell et al. | Oct 2000 | A |
| 6151571 | Pertrushin | Nov 2000 | A |
| 6154769 | Cherkasova et al. | Nov 2000 | A |
| 6163607 | Bogart et al. | Dec 2000 | A |
| 6173053 | Bogart et al. | Jan 2001 | B1 |
| 6175564 | Miloslavsky et al. | Jan 2001 | B1 |
| 6178441 | Elnozahy | Jan 2001 | B1 |
| 6185292 | Miloslavsky | Feb 2001 | B1 |
| 6185603 | Henderson et al. | Feb 2001 | B1 |
| 6192122 | Flockhart et al. | Feb 2001 | B1 |
| 6215865 | McCalmont | Apr 2001 | B1 |
| 6226377 | Donaghue, Jr. | May 2001 | B1 |
| 6229819 | Darland et al. | May 2001 | B1 |
| 6230183 | Yocom et al. | May 2001 | B1 |
| 6233333 | Dezonmo | May 2001 | B1 |
| 6240417 | Eastwick et al. | May 2001 | B1 |
| 6259969 | Tackett et al. | Jul 2001 | B1 |
| 6263359 | Fong et al. | Jul 2001 | B1 |
| 6272544 | Mullen | Aug 2001 | B1 |
| 6275806 | Pertrushin | Aug 2001 | B1 |
| 6275812 | Haq et al. | Aug 2001 | B1 |
| 6275991 | Erlin | Aug 2001 | B1 |
| 6278777 | Morley et al. | Aug 2001 | B1 |
| 6292550 | Burritt | Sep 2001 | B1 |
| 6295353 | Flockhart et al. | Sep 2001 | B1 |
| 6298062 | Gardell et al. | Oct 2001 | B1 |
| 6307931 | Vaudreuil | Oct 2001 | B1 |
| 6324282 | McIllwaine et al. | Nov 2001 | B1 |
| 6332081 | Do | Dec 2001 | B1 |
| 6339754 | Flanagan et al. | Jan 2002 | B1 |
| 6353810 | Petrushin | Mar 2002 | B1 |
| 6356632 | Foster et al. | Mar 2002 | B1 |
| 6360222 | Quinn | Mar 2002 | B1 |
| 6366666 | Bengtson et al. | Apr 2002 | B2 |
| 6366668 | Borst et al. | Apr 2002 | B1 |
| 6389028 | Bondarenko et al. | May 2002 | B1 |
| 6389132 | Price et al. | May 2002 | B1 |
| 6389400 | Bushey et al. | May 2002 | B1 |
| 6408066 | Andruska et al. | Jun 2002 | B1 |
| 6408277 | Nelken | Jun 2002 | B1 |
| 6411682 | Fuller et al. | Jun 2002 | B1 |
| 6424709 | Doyle et al. | Jul 2002 | B1 |
| 6426950 | Mistry | Jul 2002 | B1 |
| 6427137 | Pertrushin | Jul 2002 | B2 |
| 6430282 | Bannister et al. | Aug 2002 | B1 |
| 6434230 | Gabriel | Aug 2002 | B1 |
| 6446092 | Sutter | Sep 2002 | B1 |
| 6449356 | Dezonno | Sep 2002 | B1 |
| 6449358 | Anisimov et al. | Sep 2002 | B1 |
| 6449646 | Sikora et al. | Sep 2002 | B1 |
| 6453038 | McFarlane et al. | Sep 2002 | B1 |
| 6463148 | Brady | Oct 2002 | B1 |
| 6463346 | Flockhart et al. | Oct 2002 | B1 |
| 6463415 | St. John | Oct 2002 | B2 |
| 6463471 | Dreke et al. | Oct 2002 | B1 |
| 6480826 | Pertrushin | Nov 2002 | B2 |
| 6490350 | McDuff et al. | Dec 2002 | B2 |
| 6535600 | Fisher et al. | Mar 2003 | B1 |
| 6535601 | Flockhart et al. | Mar 2003 | B1 |
| 6553114 | Fisher et al. | Apr 2003 | B1 |
| 6556974 | D'Alessandro | Apr 2003 | B1 |
| 6560330 | Gabriel | May 2003 | B2 |
| 6560649 | Mullen et al. | May 2003 | B1 |
| 6560707 | Curtis et al. | May 2003 | B2 |
| 6563920 | Flockhart et al. | May 2003 | B1 |
| 6563921 | Williams et al. | May 2003 | B1 |
| 6571285 | Groath et al. | May 2003 | B1 |
| 6574599 | Lim et al. | Jun 2003 | B1 |
| 6574605 | Sanders et al. | Jun 2003 | B1 |
| 6597685 | Miloslavsky et al. | Jul 2003 | B2 |
| 6603854 | Judkins et al. | Aug 2003 | B1 |
| 6604084 | Powers et al. | Aug 2003 | B1 |
| 6614903 | Flockhart et al. | Sep 2003 | B1 |
| 6650748 | Edwards et al. | Nov 2003 | B1 |
| 6668167 | McDowell et al. | Dec 2003 | B2 |
| 6675168 | Shapiro et al. | Jan 2004 | B2 |
| 6684192 | Honarvar et al. | Jan 2004 | B2 |
| 6697457 | Petrushin | Feb 2004 | B2 |
| 6700967 | Kleinoder et al. | Mar 2004 | B2 |
| 6704409 | Dilip et al. | Mar 2004 | B1 |
| 6707903 | Burok et al. | Mar 2004 | B2 |
| 6711253 | Prabhaker | Mar 2004 | B1 |
| 6724885 | Deutsch et al. | Apr 2004 | B1 |
| 6735299 | Krimstock et al. | May 2004 | B2 |
| 6735593 | Williams | May 2004 | B1 |
| 6738462 | Brunson | May 2004 | B1 |
| 6744877 | Edwards | Jun 2004 | B1 |
| 6754333 | Flockhart et al. | Jun 2004 | B1 |
| 6757362 | Cooper et al. | Jun 2004 | B1 |
| 6766013 | Flockhart et al. | Jul 2004 | B2 |
| 6766014 | Flockhart et al. | Jul 2004 | B2 |
| 6766326 | Cena | Jul 2004 | B1 |
| 6775377 | McIllwaine et al. | Aug 2004 | B2 |
| 6785666 | Nareddy et al. | Aug 2004 | B1 |
| 6822945 | Petrovykh | Nov 2004 | B2 |
| 6829348 | Schroeder et al. | Dec 2004 | B1 |
| 6839735 | Wong et al. | Jan 2005 | B2 |
| 6842503 | Wildfeuer | Jan 2005 | B1 |
| 6847973 | Griffin et al. | Jan 2005 | B2 |
| 6898190 | Shtivelman et al. | May 2005 | B2 |
| 6915305 | Subramanian et al. | Jul 2005 | B2 |
| 6947543 | Alvarado et al. | Sep 2005 | B2 |
| 6947988 | Saleh | Sep 2005 | B1 |
| 6963826 | Hanaman et al. | Nov 2005 | B2 |
| 6968052 | Wullert, II | Nov 2005 | B2 |
| 6981061 | Sakakura | Dec 2005 | B1 |
| 6985901 | Sachse et al. | Jan 2006 | B1 |
| 6988126 | Wilcock et al. | Jan 2006 | B2 |
| 7010542 | Trappen et al. | Mar 2006 | B2 |
| 7020254 | Phillips | Mar 2006 | B2 |
| 7035808 | Ford | Apr 2006 | B1 |
| 7035927 | Flockhart et al. | Apr 2006 | B2 |
| 7039176 | Borodow et al. | May 2006 | B2 |
| 7054434 | Rodenbusch et al. | May 2006 | B2 |
| 7062031 | Becerra et al. | Jun 2006 | B2 |
| 7076051 | Brown et al. | Jul 2006 | B2 |
| 7100200 | Pope et al. | Aug 2006 | B2 |
| 7103562 | Kosiba et al. | Sep 2006 | B2 |
| 7110525 | Heller et al. | Sep 2006 | B1 |
| 7117193 | Basko et al. | Oct 2006 | B1 |
| 7127058 | O'Connor et al. | Oct 2006 | B2 |
| 7136873 | Smith et al. | Nov 2006 | B2 |
| 7149733 | Lin et al. | Dec 2006 | B2 |
| 7155612 | Licis | Dec 2006 | B2 |
| 7158628 | McConnell et al. | Jan 2007 | B2 |
| 7162469 | Anonsen et al. | Jan 2007 | B2 |
| 7165075 | Harter et al. | Jan 2007 | B2 |
| 7170976 | Keagy | Jan 2007 | B1 |
| 7170992 | Knott et al. | Jan 2007 | B2 |
| 7177401 | Mundra et al. | Feb 2007 | B2 |
| 7200219 | Edwards et al. | Apr 2007 | B1 |
| 7203655 | Herbert et al. | Apr 2007 | B2 |
| 7212625 | McKenna et al. | May 2007 | B1 |
| 7215744 | Scherer | May 2007 | B2 |
| 7222075 | Petrushin | May 2007 | B2 |
| 7246371 | Diacakis et al. | Jul 2007 | B2 |
| 7257513 | Lilly | Aug 2007 | B2 |
| 7257597 | Pryce et al. | Aug 2007 | B1 |
| 7266508 | Owen et al. | Sep 2007 | B1 |
| 7283805 | Agrawal | Oct 2007 | B2 |
| 7295669 | Denton et al. | Nov 2007 | B1 |
| 7299259 | Petrovykh | Nov 2007 | B2 |
| 7324954 | Calderaro et al. | Jan 2008 | B2 |
| 7340408 | Drew et al. | Mar 2008 | B1 |
| 7373341 | Polo-Malouvier | May 2008 | B2 |
| 7376127 | Hepworth et al. | May 2008 | B2 |
| 7392402 | Suzuki | Jun 2008 | B2 |
| 7418093 | Knott et al. | Aug 2008 | B2 |
| 7499844 | Whitman, Jr. | Mar 2009 | B2 |
| 7545925 | Williams | Jun 2009 | B2 |
| 7885209 | Michaelis et al. | Feb 2011 | B1 |
| 20010011228 | Shenkman | Aug 2001 | A1 |
| 20010034628 | Eder | Oct 2001 | A1 |
| 20010056349 | St. John | Dec 2001 | A1 |
| 20010056367 | Herbert et al. | Dec 2001 | A1 |
| 20020002464 | Pertrushin | Jan 2002 | A1 |
| 20020010587 | Pertrushin | Jan 2002 | A1 |
| 20020019829 | Shapiro | Feb 2002 | A1 |
| 20020021307 | Glenn et al. | Feb 2002 | A1 |
| 20020035605 | McDowell et al. | Mar 2002 | A1 |
| 20020038422 | Suwamoto et al. | Mar 2002 | A1 |
| 20020065894 | Dalal et al. | May 2002 | A1 |
| 20020076010 | Sahai | Jun 2002 | A1 |
| 20020085701 | Parsons et al. | Jul 2002 | A1 |
| 20020087630 | Wu | Jul 2002 | A1 |
| 20020112186 | Ford et al. | Aug 2002 | A1 |
| 20020116336 | Diacakis et al. | Aug 2002 | A1 |
| 20020116461 | Diacakis et al. | Aug 2002 | A1 |
| 20020123923 | Manganaris et al. | Sep 2002 | A1 |
| 20020147730 | Kohno | Oct 2002 | A1 |
| 20030004704 | Baron | Jan 2003 | A1 |
| 20030014491 | Horvitz et al. | Jan 2003 | A1 |
| 20030028621 | Furlong et al. | Feb 2003 | A1 |
| 20030073440 | Mukherjee et al. | Apr 2003 | A1 |
| 20030093465 | Banerjee et al. | May 2003 | A1 |
| 20030108186 | Brown et al. | Jun 2003 | A1 |
| 20030144900 | Whitmer | Jul 2003 | A1 |
| 20030144959 | Makita | Jul 2003 | A1 |
| 20030174830 | Boyer et al. | Sep 2003 | A1 |
| 20030177017 | Boyer et al. | Sep 2003 | A1 |
| 20030231757 | Harkreader et al. | Dec 2003 | A1 |
| 20040008828 | Coles et al. | Jan 2004 | A1 |
| 20040015496 | Anonsen | Jan 2004 | A1 |
| 20040015506 | Anonsen et al. | Jan 2004 | A1 |
| 20040054743 | McPartlan et al. | Mar 2004 | A1 |
| 20040057569 | Busey et al. | Mar 2004 | A1 |
| 20040102940 | Lendermann et al. | May 2004 | A1 |
| 20040103324 | Band | May 2004 | A1 |
| 20040138944 | Whitacre et al. | Jul 2004 | A1 |
| 20040162998 | Tuomi et al. | Aug 2004 | A1 |
| 20040202308 | Baggenstoss et al. | Oct 2004 | A1 |
| 20040202309 | Baggenstoss et al. | Oct 2004 | A1 |
| 20040203878 | Thomson | Oct 2004 | A1 |
| 20040210475 | Starnes et al. | Oct 2004 | A1 |
| 20040240659 | Gagle et al. | Dec 2004 | A1 |
| 20040249650 | Freedman et al. | Dec 2004 | A1 |
| 20040260706 | Anonsen et al. | Dec 2004 | A1 |
| 20050021529 | Hodson et al. | Jan 2005 | A1 |
| 20050027612 | Walker et al. | Feb 2005 | A1 |
| 20050044375 | Paatero et al. | Feb 2005 | A1 |
| 20050049911 | Engelking et al. | Mar 2005 | A1 |
| 20050065837 | Kosiba et al. | Mar 2005 | A1 |
| 20050071211 | Flockhart et al. | Mar 2005 | A1 |
| 20050071212 | Flockhart et al. | Mar 2005 | A1 |
| 20050071241 | Flockhart et al. | Mar 2005 | A1 |
| 20050071844 | Flockhart et al. | Mar 2005 | A1 |
| 20050091071 | Lee | Apr 2005 | A1 |
| 20050125432 | Lin et al. | Jun 2005 | A1 |
| 20050125458 | Sutherland et al. | Jun 2005 | A1 |
| 20050138064 | Trappen et al. | Jun 2005 | A1 |
| 20050154708 | Sun | Jul 2005 | A1 |
| 20050182784 | Trappen et al. | Aug 2005 | A1 |
| 20050261035 | Groskreutz et al. | Nov 2005 | A1 |
| 20050283393 | White et al. | Dec 2005 | A1 |
| 20050289446 | Moncsko et al. | Dec 2005 | A1 |
| 20060004686 | Molnar et al. | Jan 2006 | A1 |
| 20060007916 | Jones et al. | Jan 2006 | A1 |
| 20060015388 | Flockhart et al. | Jan 2006 | A1 |
| 20060026049 | Joseph et al. | Feb 2006 | A1 |
| 20060056598 | Brandt et al. | Mar 2006 | A1 |
| 20060058049 | McLaughlin et al. | Mar 2006 | A1 |
| 20060100973 | McMaster et al. | May 2006 | A1 |
| 20060135058 | Karabinis | Jun 2006 | A1 |
| 20060167667 | Maturana et al. | Jul 2006 | A1 |
| 20060178994 | Stolfo et al. | Aug 2006 | A1 |
| 20060242160 | Kanchwalla et al. | Oct 2006 | A1 |
| 20060256957 | Fain et al. | Nov 2006 | A1 |
| 20060271418 | Hackbarth et al. | Nov 2006 | A1 |
| 20060285648 | Wahl et al. | Dec 2006 | A1 |
| 20070038632 | Engstrom | Feb 2007 | A1 |
| 20070064912 | Kagan et al. | Mar 2007 | A1 |
| 20070083572 | Bland et al. | Apr 2007 | A1 |
| 20070112953 | Barnett | May 2007 | A1 |
| 20070127643 | Keagy | Jun 2007 | A1 |
| 20070156375 | Meier et al. | Jul 2007 | A1 |
| 20070192414 | Chen et al. | Aug 2007 | A1 |
| 20070201311 | Olson | Aug 2007 | A1 |
| 20070201674 | Annadata et al. | Aug 2007 | A1 |
| 20070230681 | Boyer et al. | Oct 2007 | A1 |
| 20080056165 | Petrovykh | Mar 2008 | A1 |
| 20090193050 | Olson | Jul 2009 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 2143198 | Jan 1995 | CA |
| 2174762 | Jun 1995 | CA |
| 2174762 | Mar 1996 | CA |
| 0 501 189 | Sep 1992 | EP |
| 0501189 | Sep 1992 | EP |
| 0576205 | Dec 1993 | EP |
| 0 740 450 | Oct 1996 | EP |
| 0740450 | Oct 1996 | EP |
| 0 772 335 | May 1997 | EP |
| 0770967 | May 1997 | EP |
| 0772335 | May 1997 | EP |
| 0 829 996 | Mar 1998 | EP |
| 0829996 | Mar 1998 | EP |
| 0 855 826 | Jul 1998 | EP |
| 0855826 | Jul 1998 | EP |
| 0 863 651 | Sep 1998 | EP |
| 0 866 407 | Sep 1998 | EP |
| 0863651 | Sep 1998 | EP |
| 0866407 | Sep 1998 | EP |
| 0899673 | Mar 1999 | EP |
| 899673 | Mar 1999 | EP |
| 0998108 | May 2000 | EP |
| 998108 | May 2000 | EP |
| 1035718 | Sep 2000 | EP |
| 1091307 | Apr 2001 | EP |
| 1091307 | Apr 2001 | EP |
| 1150236 | Oct 2001 | EP |
| 1761078 | Mar 2007 | EP |
| 2 273 418 | Jun 1994 | GB |
| 2273418 | Jun 1994 | GB |
| 2 290 192 | Dec 1995 | GB |
| 2290192 | Dec 1995 | GB |
| 2001-053843 | Feb 2001 | JP |
| 2002-304313 | Oct 2002 | JP |
| 2006054864 | Feb 2006 | JP |
| WO 9607141 | Mar 1996 | WO |
| WO9728635 | Aug 1997 | WO |
| WO 9728635 | Aug 1997 | WO |
| WO 9856207 | Dec 1998 | WO |
| WO 9917522 | Apr 1999 | WO |
| WO 0026804 | May 2000 | WO |
| WO 0026816 | May 2000 | WO |
| WO 0180094 | Oct 2001 | WO |
| WO 02099640 | Dec 2002 | WO |
| WO 03015425 | Feb 2003 | WO |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60558613 | Mar 2004 | US |
