Method for indicating call-center agent availability

摘要

A method for informing a caller of the availability of a call-center agent who can assist the caller without some of the disadvantages of the prior art is disclosed. In accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, when a caller accesses the address book in the memory of his or her telecommunications terminal (such as a telephone) the caller will see both the contact information for the call center and the availability of a call-center agent.

主权项

1. A method comprising:
receiving, from a user, a request to access contact information of a call center from an address book in a memory of a telecommunications terminal; in response to the request, transmitting, from a telecommunications terminal, a first indicium of a caller to a call center, wherein the first indicium of the caller is transmitted from the telecommunication terminal via a non-voice communications mode; receiving, at the telecommunications terminal and from the call center, a second indicium of voice availability of a call-center agent, wherein the call-center agent is selected by the call center from a plurality of call-center agents based on a match of at least once characteristic of the call-center agent with the caller; presenting, to the user and at the telecommunications terminal, the voice availability of the call-center agent in the address book; and upon receiving a request through the address book to establish voice communications with the call center, establishing an initial voice communication session between the caller and the call-center agent.