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 system for controlling establishment of a communication channel between a first terminal and a second terminal, the system comprising:
 at least one processor; and   instructions executable by the at least one processor to respond to receipt of a request to establish the communication channel by:
 determining availability of a permission for the media type associated with the communication channel from a pool of permissions; 
 when a permission for the media type associated with the communication channel is determined not to be available from the pool of permissions, refusing establishment of the communication channel; and 
 when a permission for the media type associated with the communication channel is determined to be available from the pool of permissions, allocating the permission for the media type associated with the communication channel to the first terminal and allowing establishment of the communication channel. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions executable to allocate the permission for the media type associated with the communication channel to the first terminal comprise instructions executable to allocate the permission for the media type associated with the communication channel to a user of the first terminal. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the media type associated with the communication channel is one of: voice, e-mail, hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), instant messaging and short message service (SMS). 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the first terminal is one of a first type of terminal and one of a second type of terminal, the first type of terminal being configured to receive incoming calls directly from a contact center, and the second type of terminal being configured to join incoming calls on request by a terminal of the first type. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions executable to maintain a record of allocation of each of the permissions in the pool of permissions, the record indicating the identity of at least one of a terminal and a user to which each permission is currently allocated, wherein the instructions executable to determine whether a permission for a media type associated with the communication channel is allocated to the first terminal comprise instructions executable to interrogate the record. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions executable to maintain a record of allocation of each of the permissions in the pool of permissions, the record indicating the identity of at least one of a terminal and a user to which each permission is currently allocated, wherein the instructions executable to determine availability of a permission from a pool of permissions comprise instructions executable to interrogate the record. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions executable to maintain a record of allocation of each of the permissions in the pool of permissions, the record indicating the identity of at least one of a terminal and a user to which each permission is currently allocated, wherein the instructions executable to allocate the permission for the media type associated with the communication channel to the service provider terminal comprise instructions executable to receive information identifying at least one of a terminal and a user and instructions executable to update a record of allocation of an unallocated permission in the pool of permissions with the identity of the at least one of the terminal and the user. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions executable to store a record of allowing establishment of the communication channel. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the record of allowing establishment of the communication channel comprises identifies at least one of the first terminal and the user. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the record of allowing establishment of the communication channel comprises a time of establishment of the communication channel. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the record of allowing establishment of the communication channel comprises a length of time for which the communication channel is established. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions executable to authenticate the first terminal before allowing establishment of the communication channel. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions executable to authenticate the first terminal before allocating the permission for the media type associated with the communication channel to the first terminal. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions executable to authenticate the first terminal before determining availability of a permission for the media type associated with the communication channel. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions executable, when a permission for the media type associated with the communication channel is determined not to be available, to release any other permissions allocated to the first terminal. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a telecommunications switch coupled to the at least one processor and configured to establish at least one communication channel between at least one service provider terminal of a contact center and at least one service request terminal under control of the at least one processor. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , further comprising at least one service provider terminal communicatively coupled to the telecommunications switch. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , further comprising a plurality of service provider terminals communicatively coupled to the telecommunications switch. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 16 , further comprising a plurality of service request terminals communicatively coupled to the telecommunications switch. 
     
     
         20 . An apparatus for controlling establishment of a communication channel between a first terminal and a second terminal, the apparatus comprising:
 at least one processor; and   instructions executable by the at least one processor to responding to receipt of a request to establish the communication channel by:
 determining availability of a permission for the media type associated with the communication channel from a pool of permissions; 
 when a permission for the media type associated with the communication channel is determined not to be available from the pool of permissions, refusing establishment of the communication channel; and 
 when a permission for the media type associated with the communication channel is determined to be available from the pool of permissions, allocating the permission for the media type associated with the communication channel to the first terminal and allowing establishment of the communication channel. 
   
     
     
         21 . The apparatus of  claim 20 , wherein the instructions executable to allocate the permission for the media type associated with the communication channel to the first terminal comprise instructions executable to allocate the permission for the media type associated with the communication channel to a user of the first terminal. 
     
     
         22 . The apparatus of  claim 20 , wherein the media type associated with the communication channel is one of: voice, e-mail, hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), instant messaging and short message service (SMS). 
     
     
         23 . The apparatus of  claim 20 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions executable to maintain a record of allocation of each of the permissions in the pool of permissions, the record indicating the identity of at least one of a terminal and a user to which each permission is currently allocated, wherein the instructions executable to determine whether a permission for a media type associated with the communication channel is allocated to the first terminal comprise instructions executable to interrogate the record. 
     
     
         24 . The apparatus of  claim 20 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions executable to maintain a record of allocation of each of the permissions in the pool of permissions, the record indicating the identity of at least one of a terminal and a user to which each permission is currently allocated, wherein the instructions executable to determine availability of a permission from a pool of permissions comprise instructions executable to interrogate the record. 
     
     
         25 . The apparatus of  claim 20 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions executable to maintain a record of allocation of each of the permissions in the pool of permissions, the record indicating the identity of at least one of a terminal and a user to which each permission is currently allocated, wherein the instructions executable to allocate the permission for the media type associated with the communication channel to the service provider terminal comprise instructions executable to receive information identifying at least one of a terminal and a user and instructions executable to update a record of allocation of an unallocated permission in the pool of permissions with the identity of the at least one of the terminal and the user. 
     
     
         26 . The apparatus of  claim 20 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions executable to store a record of allowing establishment of the communication channel. 
     
     
         27 . The apparatus of  claim 26 , wherein the record of allowing establishment of the communication channel comprises identifies at least one of the first terminal and the user. 
     
     
         28 . The apparatus of  claim 26 , wherein the record of allowing establishment of the communication channel comprises a time of establishment of the communication channel. 
     
     
         29 . The apparatus of  claim 28 , wherein the record of allowing establishment of the communication channel comprises a length of time for which the communication channel is established. 
     
     
         30 . The apparatus of  claim 20 , comprising instructions executable to authenticate the first terminal before allowing establishment of the communication channel. 
     
     
         31 . The apparatus of  claim 20 , further comprising instructions executable to authenticate the first terminal before allocating the permission for the media type associated with the communication channel to the first terminal. 
     
     
         32 . The apparatus of  claim 20 , further comprising instructions executable to authenticate the first terminal before determining availability of a permission for the media type associated with the communication channel. 
     
     
         33 . The apparatus of  claim 20 , further comprising instructions executable, when a permission for the media type associated with the communication channel is determined not to be available, to release any other permissions allocated to the first terminal.