Method and apparatus for extended management of state and interaction of a remote knowledge worker from a contact center

Abstract

A network system for managing remote agents of a communication center includes a primary server connected to the network the primary server controlling at least one routing point; one or more secondary servers distributed on the network and accessible to the remote agents, the secondary server or servers having data access to agent computing platforms and communication peripherals; and, a software suite distributed in part to the secondary server or servers and distributed in part to one or more agents computing platforms and peripherals, the software suite including protocol for reporting agent status data. The system monitors agents computing platforms and peripherals for activity state through the one or more secondary servers whereupon the one or more secondary servers exchange control messaging and event related data using ISCC protocols with the primary server over the network for intelligent routing purposes.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A system for managing remote agents of a communication center comprising:
 a primary server connected to a network, the primary server controlling at least one routing point used by the communication center; 
 at least one secondary server distributed on the network and accessible to the remote agents; and 
 wherein a software suite executingis configured to execute on at least one of the secondary servers and is capable of receiving state information from the remote agents; 
 characterized in that the remote agent states are monitored for activity by the software suite whereupon the software suite exchanges event related data with the primary server over the network, the primary server using this data for the purpose of intelligently routing events involving the remote agents, 
 wherein the software suite is an extension of a computer-telephony integration (CTI) software used in the communication center, 
 wherein the event related data is for being exchanged using a communication protocol, and 
 wherein the switch is configured to receive a communication, and the primary server is configured to receive an agent state of the one of the remote agents from the software suite for routing the communication to the one of the remote agents. 
 
     
     
       2. The system of claim 1, wherein the secondary server is geographically remote from the primary server. 
     
     
       3. The system of claim 1, wherein the state information is information as to whether the remote agents are ready or not ready. 
     
     
       4. The system of claim 1, wherein the network is the Internet. 
     
     
       5. The system of claim 1, wherein the primary server is configured to host the CTI software, wherein the CTI software is for accessing call-related information. 
     
     
       6. A system for managing remote agents of a communication center comprising:
 a primary server connected to a network, the primary server controlling at least one routing point used by the communication center;   a switch coupled to the primary server; and   at least one secondary server distributed on the network and accessible to the remote agents, wherein the at least one secondary server is configured to host a software suite for being executed on the at least one of the secondary servers and capable of receiving state information from agent devices accessible to the remote agents,   wherein the software suite is an extension of a computer-telephony integration (CTI) software used in the communication center,   wherein the software suite is configured to monitor states of the remote agents for activity and exchange event related data with the primary server over the network,   wherein the event related data is for being exchanged using a communication protocol,   wherein the primary server is configured to intelligently route events involving the remote agents based on the event related data,   wherein the switch is configured to receive a communication, and the primary server is configured to receive an agent state of the one of the remote agents from the software suite for routing the communication to the one of the remote agents.   
     
     
       7. The system of claim 6, wherein the secondary server is geographically remote from the primary server. 
     
     
       8. The system of claim 6, wherein the state information is information as to whether the remote agents are ready or not ready. 
     
     
       9. The system of claim 6, wherein the network is the Internet. 
     
     
       10. The system of claim 6, wherein the primary server is configured to host the CTI software, wherein the CTI software is for accessing call-related information.