Communication attempts management system for managing a dialer in a contact center

Abstract

A dialer in a contact center is managed by a Communication Attempt Management System (“CAMS”) for tracking the total number of communications attempts, including voice calls, originated to an individual within a period of time. A list comprising account data of a plurality individuals may be processed by the CAMS to identify those accounts exceeding a weekly limit on the number of allowable communication attempts and are not authorized to receive further communications in that period of time. The list is modified to reflect those accounts which have not exceeded their corresponding limit and are authorized to be contacted. The modified list is provided to the dialer, which then originates a call to each account. The CAMS may then update each account to reflect each communication attempt made by the dialer and whether the communication is considered exempt or non-exempt with respect to the communication limits.

1 . A system for managing voice telephone calls in a contact center, comprising:
 a communication attempt management system (“CAMS”) comprising a first processor and a memory, wherein the first processor is configured to:
 receive a communications list comprising a plurality of records, wherein each record comprises identification data of an account, a telephone number associated with the account, and an indication of a planned communication attempt to be made to the telephone number within a predetermined time period; 
 determine, for at least one record in the communications list, whether a number of communication attempts during the past time period meets or exceeds a communication attempt threshold; 
 update, in response to a determination for the at least one record that the number of communication attempts during the past time period does not meet or exceed the communication attempt threshold, a communication attempt occurrence data for the at least one record in the communications list by incrementing a value of the number of communication attempts; 
 transmit a modified communications list to a dialer, the modified communications list comprising the at least one record for which the number of communication attempts during the past time period does not meet or exceed the communication attempt threshold; and 
   the dialer comprising a second processor configured to:
 receive the modified communications list from the CAMS including a particular record from the at least one record; and 
 originate a voice call to a particular telephone number associated with a particular account referenced in the particular record. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the dialer is further configured to:
 store a disposition code associated with the particular record, wherein the disposition code is indicative of a limited content voice message provided on the voice call.   
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 ,
 wherein the second processor of the dialer is further configured to:
 provide, to the CAMS, an indication that the limited-content voice message was provided to the particular telephone number; and 
   wherein the CAMS is further configured to:
 modify, for the particular record, the communication attempt occurrence data with an indication that an exempt communication comprising the limited-content voice message was provided. 
   
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 2 ,
 wherein the second processor of the dialer is further configured to:
 provide, to the CAMS, an indication that the limited-content voice message was provided to the particular telephone number; and 
   wherein the CAMS is further configured to:
 decrement, for the particular record, the value of the number of communication attempts. 
   
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the communication attempt occurrence data for the particular record reflects both exempt and non-exempt communication attempts. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 a computer configured to:
 request, from the CAMS, a calendar-oriented interface comprising the past time period for the particular record; 
 receive, from the CAMS, the communication attempt occurrence data associated with the particular record; and 
 present the communication attempt occurrence data associated with the particular record during the past time period on the calendar-oriented interface, wherein the communication attempt occurrence data associated with the particular record comprises exempt and non-exempt communication occurrence data. 
   
     
     
         7 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer processor cause the computer processor to:
 receive a communications list comprising a plurality of records, wherein each record comprises identification data of an account, a telephone number associated with the account, and an indication of a planned communication attempt comprising a voice call to be made to the telephone number within a predetermined time period;   determine, for at least one record in the communications list, whether a number of communication attempts during the past time period meets or exceeds a communication attempt threshold;   update, in response to a determination for the at least one record that the number of communication attempts during the past time period does not meet or exceed the communication attempt threshold, a communication attempt occurrence data for the at least one record in the communications list by incrementing a value of the number of communication attempts;   transmit a modified communications list to a dialer, the modified communications list comprising the at least one record for which the number of communication attempts during the past time period does not meet or exceed the communication attempt threshold;   generate a modified communications list comprising the at least one record for which the number of communication attempts during the past time period does not meet or exceed the communication attempt threshold; and   receive, for the at least one record in the modified communications list, an indication that a voice call was provided to the telephone number.   
     
     
         8 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 7 ,
 wherein the indication includes that a limited content voice message was provided in the voice call.   
     
     
         9 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the instructions when executed further cause the computer processor to:
 decrement, for the at least one record in the modified communications list, the value of the number of communication attempts.   
     
     
         10 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions when executed further cause the computer processor to:
 modify, for the at least one record in the modified communications list, the communication attempt occurrence data with an indication of an exempt voice communication attempt associated with a given date.   
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein the communication attempt occurrence data for a particular record in the communications list reflects both exempt and non-exempt voice communication attempts. 
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions when executed further cause the computer processor to:
 receive a request to view a particular record in the communications list on a calendar-oriented interface comprising the past time period;   retrieve, for the particular record, a subset of the communication attempt occurrence data to generate the calendar-oriented interface; and   provide the particular record on the calendar-oriented interface, wherein the calendar-oriented interface reflects exempt and non-exempt communication attempts made to the telephone number during the past time period.   
     
     
         13 . A method for managing call origination to a plurality of accounts, the method comprising:
 receiving a communications list comprising a plurality of records, wherein each record comprises identification data of an account, a telephone number associated with the account, and an indication of a planned communication attempt comprising a voice call to be made to the telephone number within a predetermined time period;   determining, for at least one record in the communications list, whether a number of communication attempts during the past time period meets or exceeds a communication attempt threshold;   updating, in response to a determination for the at least one record that the number of communication attempts during the past time period does not meet or exceed the communication attempt threshold, a communication attempt occurrence data for the at least one record in the communications list by incrementing a value of the number of communication attempts;   transmitting a modified communications list to a dialer, the modified communications list comprising the at least one record for which the number of communication attempts during the past time period does not meet or exceed the communication attempt threshold; and   receiving, from the dialer and for the at least one record in the modified communications list, an indication that a voice call was provided to the telephone number.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 wherein the indication includes that a limited content voice message was provided in the voice call.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 decrementing, for the at least one record in the modified communications list, the value of the number of communication attempts.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 modifying, for the at least one record in the modified communications list, the communication attempt occurrence data with an indication that an exempt voice communication attempt occurred on a given date.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 receiving a request to view a particular record in the communications list on a calendar-oriented interface comprising the past time period;   retrieving, for the particular record, a subset of the communication attempt occurrence data to generate the calendar-oriented interface; and   providing the particular record on the calendar-oriented interface, wherein the calendar-oriented interface reflects exempt and non-exempt communication attempts made to the telephone number during the past time period.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17  wherein the calendar-oriented interface displays communication attempt occurrence data comprising both exempt and nonexempt voice communication attempts. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein determining whether the number of communication attempts during the past time period meets or exceeds the communication attempt threshold comprises:
 comparing a sum of voice and non-voice communication attempts during the past time period against the communication attempt threshold.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 17  wherein the calendar-oriented interface indicates a corresponding date for exempt and non-exempt voice communication attempts.