Desktop telephony application program for a call center agent

Abstract

A desktop telephony application program enables a call center agent to handle calls. The application program may be interfaced with an answering service. The answering service acts as an application program interface (API) to a computer/telephony interface server and a call distributor. The application program produces a user interface that enables the agent to indicate when the agent is going on break and the type of break that the agent is taking. Additional functional elements are provided in the user interface to enable the agent to update status information regarding the current state of the agent. The application program may also provide phone books that hold phone numbers grouped by different logical grouping criteria.

1 . In a computer system having a display device and an interface to telephony resources for placing outbound calls, a method comprising the computer-implemented steps of: 
 storing a plurality of phone books in the computer system having therein telephone numbers used for placing outbound calls, wherein the plurality of phone books are at least one of a personal phone book, a yellow pages phone book and a call backs phone book;    associating at least one scheduled calling time with at least one of the telephone numbers;    inputting the scheduled calling time associated with the at least one telephone number into an interface on the display; and    displaying a prompt on the display when the schedule calling time arrives, whereby the agent is prompted with a plurality of options regarding the scheduled calling time.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the plurality of options include at least one of: immediately executing a call, executing the call a predetermined time in the future, or removing the reminder.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the prompt is a reminder window.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising displaying status information associated with the outbound call.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising allowing at least one of editing and deleting of information associated with the telephone numbers.  
     
     
         6 . A computer system having a display device and an interface to telephony resources for placing outbound calls comprising: 
 means for storing a plurality of phone books in the computer system having therein telephone numbers used for placing outbound calls, wherein the plurality of phone books are at least one of a personal phone book, a yellow pages phone book and a call backs phone book;    means for associating at least one scheduled calling time with at least one of the telephone numbers;    means for inputting the scheduled calling time associated with the at least one telephone number into an interface on the display; and    means for displaying a prompt on the display when the schedule calling time arrives, whereby the agent is prompted with a plurality of options regarding the scheduled calling time.    
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the plurality of options include at least one of: immediately executing a call, executing the call a predetermined time in the future, or removing the reminder.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the prompt is a reminder window.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising displaying status information associated with the outbound call.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising allowing at least one of editing and deleting of information associated with the telephone numbers.  
     
     
         11 . A computer system having a display device and an interface to telephony resources for placing outbound calls comprising: 
 a plurality of phone books in the computer system having therein telephone numbers used for placing outbound calls, wherein the plurality of phone books are at least one of a personal phone book, a yellow pages phone book and a call backs phone book, wherein a scheduled calling time is associated with at least one of the telephone numbers;    an interface on the display by which an agent may input the scheduled calling time associated with the at least one telephone number; and    an interface for displaying a prompt on the display when the scheduled calling time arrives, whereby the agent is prompted with a plurality of options regarding the scheduled calling time.    
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the plurality of options include at least one of: immediately executing a call, executing the call a predetermined time in the future, or removing the reminder.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the prompt is a reminder window.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising displaying status information associated with the outbound call.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising allowing at least one of editing and deleting of information associated with the telephone numbers.