System and Method for Controlling Calls for Contact Centers

Abstract

A computer system for controlling calls to a call target including code for accessing a database and retrieving a contact rate for a specific time of day for a specific day of week for the call target, the contact rate determined based on information relating to calls to the call target on one or more prior instances of the specified day of week at a time of day similar to the specified time of day, code for placing a call target identifier in a queue indicating the call target will be called during the specified time of day and specified day of week, when the contact rate is greater than a threshold rate.

1 . A computer system for controlling calls to a call target, comprising:
 a processor in communication with non-volatile memory, the non-volatile memory executing code comprising:   code for receiving call target information relating to the call target;   code for accessing a database and retrieving a contact rate for a specific time of day for a specific day of week for the call target, the contact rate determined based on information relating to calls to the call target on one or more prior instances of the specified day of week at a time of day similar to the specified time of day;   code for placing a call target identifier in a queue indicating the call target will be called during the specified time of day and specified day of week, when the contact rate is greater than a threshold rate;   code for placing a call to the call target during the specified time of day on the specified day of week; and   code for updating the contact rate based on an outcome of the call.   
     
     
         2 . The computer system of  claim 1 , where the contact rate is based on number of calls connected and number of unanswered calls. 
     
     
         3 . The computer system of  claim 1 , where the contact rate is based on number of calls connected, number of calls resulting in busy signals, and number of unanswered calls. 
     
     
         4 . The computer system of  claim 1 , where the code for updating the contact rate increases the contact rate when the call is answered. 
     
     
         5 . The computer system of  claim 1 , where the code for updating the contact rate increases the contact rate when the call is answered or a busy signal is received. 
     
     
         6 . The computer system of  claim 1 , where the code for updating the contact rate increases the contact rate when the call is answered and decreased the contact rate when the call is unanswered. 
     
     
         7 . The computer system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 code for updating the database entry of the call target when the call indicates the telephone number of the call target is active or inactive; and   code for accessing the database entry of the call target and placing the call only when the call target is active.   
     
     
         8 . The computer system of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 code for determining the telephone number of the call target is inactive based on ISDN codes.   
     
     
         9 . The computer system of  claim 1 , further comprising code for performing a regulatory check before placing the call to the call target and placing the call when no regulatory violation is found. 
     
     
         10 . The computer system of  claim 1 , where the regulatory violation is a do not call list violation. 
     
     
         11 . The computer system of  claim 1 , where the regulatory violation relates to times of day when calls may not be placed. 
     
     
         12 . The computer system of  claim 1 , where the regulatory violation relates to a number of times the target may be called in a time period. 
     
     
         13 . The computer system of  claim 1 , further comprising code for performing a regulatory check before placing the call to the call target and placing the call when a regulatory violation and an applicable regulatory violation exception are found. 
     
     
         14 . The computer system of  claim 1 , where the threshold rate is 33%.