Method and apparatus enabling voice-based management of state and interaction of a remote knowledge worker in a contact center environment

Abstract

A network system for enabling voice interaction between communications-center applications and human agents remote from the center has a primary server connected to the network the server controlling at least one routing point used by the center, a secondary server connected to the network the secondary server for generating and serving voice extensible markup language, a voice gateway associated with the secondary server, the gateway for executing voice extensible markup language and recognizing speech input, and a software platform based in the primary server and distributed in part as a server application to the secondary server, the software suite functioning as a data transformation interface between the center applications and the gateway. In a preferred use agents and applications communicate bi-directionally using VXML.

1 - 32 . (canceled)  
   
   
       33 . In a VXML-based telephone communication system, a method for alerting a remote service agent to activate a networked workstation that is currently offline to receive an automated data update or service configuration comprising steps of: 
 (a) providing a text rendering comprising the alert to a VXML-enabled server;    (b) transforming the text rendering to a form useable in a VXML script; and    (c) establishing a telephone connection with the agent and executing the script once connected.    
   
   
       34 . The method of  claim 33  wherein in step (a) the text alert is a request from a communications application, the request tied to an activity threshold detected by the application.  
   
   
       35 . The method of  claim 34  wherein in step (a) the application is a load balancing application and the activity threshold quantifies a current call load.  
   
   
       36 . The method of  claim 33  wherein in step (a) the server is a Web server the alert uploaded thereto from a contact center.  
   
   
       37 . The method of  claim 33  wherein in step (a) the alert is rendered in the form of XML.  
   
   
       38 . The method of  claim 33  wherein in step (b) transformation includes use of XSLT and is performed by a Web server application.  
   
   
       39 . The method of  claim 33  wherein in step (b) a VXML script is generated containing the alert.  
   
   
       40 . The method of  claim 33  wherein in step (c) wherein the connection is established by a VXML-enabled gateway associated with the server.  
   
   
       41 . The method of  claim 33  wherein in step (c) the connection is established to a cellular telephone through a wireless network.  
   
   
       42 . The method of  claim 33  wherein in step (c) the connection is established to a plain old telephony service (POTS) telephone and the connection is made through normal public-switched-telephone channels.  
   
   
       43 . The method of  claim 33  wherein in step (c) the telephone connection is established and script execution is performed by a VXML-enabled gateway.  
   
   
       44 . The method of  claim 43  wherein in step (c) executing the script results in voice synthesis of the populated dialogue fields of the script played over the telephone connection.  
   
   
       45 . The method of  claim 43  wherein in step (c) script execution involves text-to-speech technology.