Method and system for controlling establishment of communication channels in a contact center

Abstract

A method for controlling establishment of a communication channel between a service provider terminal of a contact center and a service request terminal. Receipt of a request to establish the communication channel is responded to by determining whether a license for a media type associated with the communication channel is allocated to the service provider terminal. If a license is determined to be allocated to the service provider terminal, establishment of the communication channel is allowed. If a license is determined not to be allocated to the service provider terminal, availability of a license from a pool of licenses is determined. If a license is determined not to be available, establishment of the communication channel is refused. If a license is determined to be available, the license is allocated to the service provider terminal and establishment of the communication channel is allowed.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of controlling access to a service, the method comprising, using one or more processors for:
 establishing for a user group a predetermined number of permissions for the service; and   responding to a request from a user in the user group for access to the service by:   allocating one of the predetermined number of permissions to the user and providing access to the service by the user when at least one of the predetermined number of permissions is not allocated to a user; and   refusing access to the service when all of the predetermined number of permissions are currently allocated to users.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, when a user in the user group terminates use of the service, changing a status of a permission allocated to the user from allocated to unallocated. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising authenticating the user before allocating one of the predetermined number of permissions. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein allocating one of the predetermined number of permissions to the user comprises receiving, at a server, details identifying at least one of the user and a terminal associated with the user and updating a record of allocation of the allocated permission with an identifier of the at least one of the user and the terminal associated with the user. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the service is a contact center service; and   the user group is a group of service provider terminals.   
     
     
         6 . A method of controlling access to a set of services, the method comprising, using one or more processors for:
 establishing for a user group a respective predetermined number of permissions for each service in the set of services; and   responding to a request from a user in the user group for access to a service in the set of services by:   allocating one of the predetermined permissions to the user and providing access to the requested service when at least one of the predetermined number of permissions for the requested service is not allocated to a user; and   refusing access to the requested service when all of the predetermined number of permissions for the requested service are currently allocated to users.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising, when a user in the user group terminates use of a service of the set of services, changing a status of a respective permission for the service allocated to the user from allocated to unallocated. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising authenticating the user before allocating one of the predetermined number of permissions. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein allocating one of the predetermined number of permissions to the user comprises receiving, at a server, details identifying at least one of the user and a terminal associated with the user and updating a record of allocation of the allocated permission with an identifier of the at least one of the user and the terminal associated with the user. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein:
 the request from the user for access to a service in the set of services comprises a request for access to plural services in the set of services; and   responding to the request comprises:
 allocating one of the permissions to the user from the predetermined number of permissions for each of the plural requested services when at least one of the predetermined number of permissions for each requested service is not allocated to a user; and 
 refusing access to the requested service when all of the predetermined number of permissions for at least one of the requested services are currently allocated to a users. 
   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein:
 the set of services is a set of contact center services, each service in the set of services having a respective media type; and   the user group is a group of service provider terminals.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein:
 the set of services is a set of communication services, each service in the set of services having a respective media type; and   the user group is a predetermined group of communication terminals.