JP2854773B2 - Call control method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a calling control method for automatically calling an external telephone line from an internal telephone line and connecting a line.

[0002] In recent years, telemarketing, which mainly sells personal customers by telephone, has attracted interest. Telemarketing can directly talk to individual customers over the telephone, provide guidance and solicitation of products while checking the customer's response, and can be performed at a lower cost than door-to-door sales. But,
Since it is necessary to secure a large number of communication lines and a large number of telecommunicators (telephone staff), a call control method capable of efficiently connecting lines to as many customers as possible during business hours. The development of was desired.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art In conventional telemarketing,
Many telecommunicators manually operate the extension telephones based on the customer list assigned to each of them, and make outgoing calls to customers one by one.

[0004] Further, customer information is managed by a computer, and when the extension telephone becomes idle, a call to the customer is automatically made under the control of the computer, and the called external telephone is transferred to the idle extension telephone. A call control method for automatically connecting has also been proposed (JP-A-2-26455).

[0005]

However, in the method in which the telecommunicator makes a call by manually operating the extension telephone, it takes a long time for the manual operation, but it takes more time. If the call destination customer is busy or absent (absent), all of the operation time and waiting time are wasted, so that the operation rate of extension telephones is low and the efficiency of business is extremely poor. There was a problem.

Further, in the conventional control method of making an automatic call using a computer, although the time for manual operation is shortened efficiently, it is called when the extension telephone becomes idle. Controlled to initiate a call,
Until the line is connected by the outgoing call or the subsequent outgoing call, there is a wasteful waiting time, and the inefficiency was not much different from that of the manual operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a call control method capable of improving the operation rate of extension telephones and improving the efficiency of business.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of switching a telephone which can be connected to one or more extension telephones as shown in FIGS.
The external telephone 23 is automatically called from the machine 11 and the extension telephone 1 is called.
A call control method for connecting the external telephone 23 to the external telephone 23 via a line , wherein the number CG of external telephones that are making a call is determined by a preset number corresponding to the number NEW of empty internal telephones.
Control is performed so as to match the standard number of calls A that increases or decreases based on the number of calls NBC .

In the method according to the second aspect of the present invention, the standard number of calls A is modified according to the number TO of the extension telephones in a call state that exceed a set reference call time.

[0010] In the method according to the third aspect of the present invention, the standard number of calls A is modified according to the day of the week or the time zone in which the call is made. In the method according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the number CG of outgoing external telephone calls is set based on the reference number of outgoing telephone calls NBC determined according to the number of unused internal telephone calls NEW, and the number of internal telephones in a call state. The following equation A = (NBC + TO × α) × β is obtained from the number TO of the telephone calls exceeding the reference call time, the reduction coefficient α, and the adjustment coefficient β set according to the day of the week or the time zone in which the call is made. Control is performed so as to match the standard number of calls A.

In the method according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the reference number of calls NBC which is set according to the number CG of external telephones making a call, the number NEW of idle telephones in a vacant state, and the number of internal telephones in a call state. T exceeding the standard talk time set
A number equal to the number of call instructions B obtained from the following equation B = (NBC + TO × α) × β-CG from O, the mitigation coefficient α, and the adjustment coefficient β set according to the day of the week or the time zone in which the call is made. Is controlled to make a new call.

[0012]

When an outside line is called from the exchange, control is performed so that the number CG of outside lines during a call is made equal to the standard number A of calls which increases or decreases according to the number NEW of vacant extensions. .

The standard number of calls A is, for example, the standard number of calls NB.
C, number TO exceeding the standard talk time TO, mitigation coefficient α,
And A = (NBC + TO × α) × β from the adjustment coefficient β. At the timing when the standard number of calls A changes or at the timing when the number CG of external calls during a call changes, so that the number CG of external telephones making a call matches this standard number A of calls. Outgoing call is made.

Therefore, normally, the number of outgoing calls greater than the number of available extension telephones NEW is preceded asynchronously with the end of the conversation, thereby reducing the possibility that the extension telephone 14 becomes empty. .

[0015]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electronic exchange system 2 according to the present invention. The electronic exchange system 2 includes the exchange 1
1, a host computer 12, a plurality of terminal devices 13 (1
3a, 13b, 13c...) And a plurality of extension telephones 14
(14a, 14b, 14c ...). A large number of lines 21 are connected to the electronic exchange system 2. A predetermined telephone number is automatically called from the exchange 11 based on customer information managed by the host computer 12, and the extension telephone 14 is connected via the telephone network 22. And customer's outside line 2
3 (23a, 23b, 23c...) Are connected.

The exchange 11 makes a call in response to a call instruction from the host computer 12 and notifies the host computer 12 of the result. When there is a response from the external telephone 23 that has made the call, the external telephone 23 is connected to the extension telephone 14 that is not in use.

The host computer 12 designates a telephone number to the exchange 11 to issue a call, and issues a new instruction in response to a result notification from the exchange 11. In other words, if the connection is not established due to the absence or busy status as a result of making the call, a call instruction is issued to the next customer, and if the connection is established, the name of the customer concerned And the customer information such as age is transmitted to the corresponding terminal device 13.

The host computer 12 executes the customer information database 3 to execute these instructions or processes.
1. It has various databases such as an extension management database 32, an outgoing call number management database 33, a conversation time database 34, and an adjustment coefficient database 35. In addition to managing these databases, the standard number of calls A is calculated based on the information read from the database and the like, and the number CG of the external telephones 23 that are making a call (hereinafter, “the number of calling telephones CG”) Is controlled to be equal to the standard number of calls A. Details will be described later.

The terminal device 13 comprises a so-called workstation or the like provided with a display unit and an input unit. The terminal device 13 notifies the host computer 12 of the operation status of the extension telephone 14 (extension dial status DED). Is displayed on the screen of the display unit.

The terminal unit 13 and the extension telephone 14 are arranged as a set, and each set is operated and operated by one telecommunicator during business hours.

FIG. 2 shows the structure of the customer information database 31, FIG. 3 shows the structure of the extension management database 32, FIG. 4 shows the structure of the number-of-calls management database 33, and FIG. FIG.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the configuration of the adjustment coefficient database 35.

In FIG. 2, customer information database 31
Is a list database of customers to be called, and for each customer, customer number NCU, telephone number NTL, basic attribute information FAT such as customer name, age, address, conversation number NDI, and customer dialing status DC
D and other various customer information.

The conversation number NDI is a number assigned to a large number of collections of conversations in which conversation between the telecommunicator and the customer is predetermined, and the most appropriate collection of conversations is assigned to each customer. The conversation number NDI is registered. It should be noted that a reference conversation time TBD is determined for each collection of exchange talks indicated by the conversation number NDI.

The customer dial status DCD is information indicating a calling state, a line connection state, and the like for each customer, and is a state in which a call has not yet been made to the customer. "Calling" when the call has been started but the other party has not yet answered, "Connected" when the line has been connected by the other party's response, and "The line has not been connected because there was no answer. Either "connected" or "conversation completed" where the conversation is over and the line is disconnected is registered.

In FIG. 3, the extension management database 32
Contains various information such as the extension number NEX of each extension telephone 14, the terminal number NWS which is the number of the terminal device 13 set with each extension telephone 14, and the extension dial status DED.

The extension dial status DED is information indicating the operation status of each extension telephone 14, and is "vacant state" in which no call is made and no connection to the line is made and connection is possible at any time. "Conversing", in which one of outgoing calls, line connection, or post-line disconnection processing is being performed,
Either “exceeding the reference conversation time”, which is a state in which the conversation is in progress but the connection time exceeds the reference conversation time TBD, or “non-operation”, which is a state in which the operation is stopped, is registered.

In FIG. 4, the outgoing call number management database 3
Reference numeral 3 defines the reference number of outgoing calls NBC for various numbers of available extensions NEW, which is the number of available extension telephones 14.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a specific example of the outgoing call number management database 33. In the example shown in FIG. 7, the number of free extensions NE
When W is "30", the reference number of calls NBC is "90", and every time the number of free extensions NEW decreases by one, the reference number of calls NBC
Is reduced by three.

In FIG. 5, the conversation time database 34
Defines the reference conversation time TBD for each conversation collection indicated by the conversation number NDI. In FIG. 6, the adjustment coefficient database 35 defines an adjustment coefficient β for each combination of a day of the week and a time zone.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a specific example of the adjustment coefficient database 35. In the example shown in FIG.
At 0 to 11:00, the adjustment coefficient β is “1.0”, and 11 to 11
At 12:00, the adjustment coefficient β becomes “0.9”.

The host computer 12 performs call control on the exchange 11 so that the number CG of incoming calls is equal to the standard number A of calls, and the standard number A of calls is determined by the following (1).
It is calculated by the formula.

A = (NBC + TO × α) × β (1) Here, “NBC” is the number of reference calls described above, and “TO” is the number of extension telephones 14 in the state of “exceeding reference conversation time”. (Excess extensions). “Α” is the ratio of the reference number of calls NBC to the number of free extensions NEW (3 in the example shown in FIG. 7).
Is a reduction coefficient set to be smaller than “β”, and “β” is the adjustment coefficient described above.

For example, the standard number of calls A when the number of available extensions NEW is "15" is calculated as follows. However,
It is assumed that the excess extension number TO is “2”, and the reduction coefficient α and the adjustment coefficient β are both “1”. In this case, from the outgoing call number management database 33 shown in FIG. 7, the reference outgoing call number NBC when the number of available extensions NEW is “15” is obtained as “45”, and these numerical values are calculated by the equation (1). After the substitution, the standard number of calls A is calculated as (45 + 2 × 1) × 1 = 47.

When the standard number of calls A is calculated, a call is instructed to the exchange 11 so that the number of in-call telephones CG matches the standard number of calls A. In calling control, it is not necessary to always execute the above-described calculation. For example, it is only necessary to calculate a new number for giving a calling instruction at a timing when a factor that changes the standard number A of calling occurs. Such timings are when the number of free extensions NEW changes and when the number of excess extensions TO changes. Even if the standard number of calls A does not change, a new call instruction is given when the number of calls CG changes. Specifically, it is when the following event occurs. When there is a response from the external telephone 23 which is “calling” and the line is connected to the internal telephone 14. At this time,
The extension telephone 14 is changed from "free" to "conversing", and the number of available extensions NEW is reduced by one. The conversation of the extension telephone 14, which was "in conversation", ends.
When the status changes to “empty”. At this time, the number of available extensions N
The EW increases by one. When the "exceeding standard conversation time" is reached on the extension telephone 14 during "conversation" due to a prolonged conversation or the like. At this time, the number of excess extensions TO increases by one. When the outside line telephone 23, which was "calling", becomes "cannot be connected" due to absence or busy. At this time, the number of calling telephones CG decreases by one.

That is, the actual calling control is performed by
A new call instruction is issued at the timing of. Therefore, the number B for newly issuing a call instruction (the number of call instructions) is a number obtained by subtracting the number of in-call telephones CG from the standard number of calls A, and the following equation (1) is obtained based on the above equation (1). It is expressed as in equation (2).

B = (NBC + TO × α) × β-CG (2) However, since the number B of calling instructions is zero or a positive integer, the calling instruction is performed when the right side is negative. Neither does it cancel calls that are in progress.

Next, the flow of the overall processing operation of the electronic exchange system 2 will be described. Here, it is assumed that a certain number of installed extension telephones 14 are currently connected to external telephones 23.

The host computer 12 has a terminal device 13
, Waits for a notification that the extension telephone 14 has become idle. When the notification is received, the extension dial status DE of the extension management database 32 for the extension telephone 14 is received.
After changing D to "free", in the extension management database 32, the number of records in "free" (the number of free extensions NEW) and the number of records in "extension of reference conversation time" ( The number of excess extensions (TO) is counted.

Next, the host computer 12 makes an entry in the number-of-calls management database 33 using the obtained number of available extensions NEW as a key, and obtains the reference number of calls NBC. Also,
An entry is made in the adjustment coefficient database 35 using the day of the week and the time zone in which the processing is being executed as a key, and an adjustment coefficient β is obtained.

Then, the number of records (calling telephone number CG) in which the customer dialing status DCD is "calling" in the customer information database 31 is counted. From these numerical values, the host computer 12 calculates the number of call instructions B according to the above equation (2). Then, from the customers whose customer dialing status DCD in the customer information database 31 is "not called", the number of customers equal to the number B of calling instructions is extracted, and those dialing statuses DCD are extracted.
Is changed to "calling", and a call instruction is issued to the exchange 11 by designating the extracted customer's telephone number NTL.

The exchange 11 makes an automatic call based on a call instruction from the host computer 12 and requests the telephone network 22 to connect the exchange 11 and the external telephone 23.
Thereafter, the exchange 11 notifies the host computer 12 of information such as completion of connection, talking on the other end, absence of the other end, etc. every time the connection result to the outside line telephone 23 is found. When the connection to the telephone network 22 is completed normally, the exchange 11 also performs a process of equally distributing the line to the vacant extension telephone 14.

When the host computer 12 receives the result from the exchange 11, if the connection to the line cannot be made, the customer dial status DCD for the customer is received.
Is changed to "cannot be connected", the number of call instructions B is calculated to issue a call instruction to the next customer, and then the same processing as described above is executed. When the connection to the line is completed normally, the customer dial status DCD for the customer is changed to "connected", and the basic attribute information FAT is transmitted to the terminal device 13 corresponding to the connected extension telephone 14. Send. Basic attribute information FAT is displayed on the screen of the terminal device 13.

The telecommunicator of the extension telephone 14 talks with the customer while referring to the customer information displayed on the screen. After the conversation is over, the telecommunicator operates the terminal device 13 to notify the host computer 12 that the conversation has been completed and that the extension telephone 14 has become idle.

When receiving this, the host computer 12 changes the customer dialing status DCD for the customer to "conversation completed". Also, the host computer 1
2 is a conversation number ND of the conversation collection sent to each terminal device 13
I, and the conversation start time in each terminal device 13 are known, and if the conversation is continued even after the reference conversation time TBD obtained by the conversation time database 34, the extension dial status DED is changed to "reference conversation". Over time. " Thereafter, after calculating the number of call instructions B, the same processing as described above is performed.

Next, call control in the electronic exchange system 2 will be described with reference to a specific example shown in FIG. FIG.
, The total number of extension telephones 14 is “2”, and the reference number of calls NBC when the number of available extensions NEW is “0” “1” “2” is “0” “2” “4” respectively. And both the reduction coefficient α and the adjustment coefficient β are “1”. Therefore,
The standard number of calls A is the sum of the reference number of calls NBC and the number of excess extensions TO.

1. The number of free extensions NEW is “2”,
No call is made since the service has not yet started. 2. Since the number of available extensions NEW is “2”, the standard number of calls A is “4”, and calls are made to the four external telephones 23a to 23d, and the number of active telephones CG is converted to the standard number of calls A. To match.

3. Since there is a response from the external telephone 23c and the extension telephone 14a is connected, the number of empty telephones 14 in the idle state is reduced by one, and the number of empty telephone numbers NEW becomes "1". Accordingly, the call originating standard number A becomes “2”.
The number of calls during call CG is reduced by one to “3”.

4. Although the customers of the outside line telephones 23a and 23d were absent, one new call was made to match the number of in-call telephone calls CG to the standard number of call A, and the number of in-call telephone calls CG was set to "2".
And

5. Since there is a response from the external telephone 23e and the extension telephone 14b is connected, the number of empty telephones 14 in the empty state is reduced by one, and the number of empty telephone lines NEW becomes "0". Accordingly, the call originating standard number A becomes “0”.
The number of calls during call CG is reduced by one to “1”.

6. Although the customer of the outside line telephone 23f is absent, no call is made to match the number of in-call telephones CG to the standard number of calls A. 7. Telecommunicator of extension telephone 14a and external telephone 2
Since the conversation time with the customer 3c has exceeded the reference conversation time TBD, the standard number of calls A is "1". Extension telephone 14b
Is "conversing" because the conversation has ended but post-processing has been performed.

8. After the post-processing of the extension telephone 14b, the state becomes “vacant”, the number of available extensions NEW increases by one, and the standard number of calls A becomes “3”. 9. The number of free extensions NEW connected to the extension telephone 14b is 1
And the standard number of calls A becomes “1”.

10. The customer of the outside line telephone 23k is busy, but does not make a call in order to make the number of calling telephones CG equal to the standard number of calling A. 11. The extension telephone 14a becomes “vacant”, the number of available extensions NEW increases by one, and the number of excess extensions TO decreases by one, so the standard number of calls A increases by one to “2”.

12. The extension telephone 14b becomes “vacant”, the number of available extensions NEW increases by one, and the standard number of calls A becomes “4”. As described above, the host computer 12 is connected to the extension 1
In response to the end of the conversation of No. 4, a call instruction is issued to the exchange 11 asynchronously, and the standard number of calls A according to the number of available extensions NEW and the like.
Call control is performed so as to maintain.

In this case, as can be understood from the example shown in FIG.
However, control is performed so that they do not always match, but match as much as possible at the specific timing as described above.

In the call control, the number of free extensions NE
Since the number of outgoing calls is larger than W, the external telephone 23 responding to the outgoing call may be forcibly disconnected. In this case, the customer of the external telephone 23 is individually called by manual calling. Take action.

According to the above-described electronic exchange system 2, the cooperation between the host computer 12 and the exchange 11 is used to eliminate the operation for calling the telecommunicator and the variation in the work for each operation, and to provide the external telephone 23. By automating the processing when the customer is absent or busy, business efficiency can be improved.

According to the call control of the electronic exchange system 2, the extension telephone 14 performs a call that is larger than the number of available extensions NEW ahead of the conversation end asynchronously.
As much as possible and reduce the number of extension 1
4 can improve the operation rate and increase the efficiency of work. Also, of course, the waiting time for the telecommunicator to connect to the customer is reduced, and overall efficiency is improved.

The host computer 12 manages, as a history, the relationship between the number of calls and the number of connections each day and the day of the week and time zone, and the relationship between the conversation number NDI and the actual conversation time. , An optimal value can be set in advance, and it is possible to further increase the efficiency of work.

Therefore, for example, when used in telemarketing for sales activities by telephone, the burden on the telecommunicator can be reduced, various statistical data required for sales promotion can be obtained, and telemarketing can be efficiently promoted. .

In the above embodiment, the reduction coefficient α and the adjustment coefficient β can be set to various values within an appropriate range. These may be set to zero. Other factors may be considered. In order to determine the standard number of calling A or the number B of calling instructions,
The calculation can be performed by various methods such as calculation, reference to a database or a table, software, hardware, or a combination thereof. In addition, the structure of each database, the contents of call control, the order,
The actual method of setting the timing, the configuration of the entire electronic exchange system 2 or each unit, and the like can be variously changed in accordance with the gist of the present invention.

[0061]

According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the extension telephones become idle, to improve the operation rate of the extension telephones, and to improve the efficiency of business.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electronic exchange system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a customer information database.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of an extension management database.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of a call count management database.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conversation time database.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration of an adjustment coefficient database.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a specific example of a call count management database.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a specific example of an adjustment coefficient database.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a specific example of call control in the electronic switching system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 14 internal telephones 23 external telephones A standard number of outgoing calls B number of outgoing calls CG number of outgoing telephones (the number of outgoing external telephones) NEW number of empty internal telephones (number of empty internal telephones) TO excess internal telephones (Number of calls exceeding the standard talk time) NBC Standard number of calls

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Miho Uejima 1015 Uedanaka, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Fujitsu Limited (56) References JP-A-2-26455 (JP, A) JP-A-5-91194 (JP, A) JP-A-62-30458 (JP, A) JP-A-4-344757 (JP, A) JP-A-4-326847 (JP, A) JP-A-5-91551 (JP, A) Kaihei 5-268358 (JP, A) JP-A-3-9568 (JP, U) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) H04M 3/42-3/58 H04Q 3/58- 3/62

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] An exchange connectable to one or more extensions
Automatically call an outside line from the machine, and
A call control method for connecting a telephone to a telephone line , wherein the number CG of external calls during a call is reduced to a reference number of calls NBC set in advance corresponding to the number NEW of vacant extensions. Base
Call control method and controlling so as to coincide with the calling standard number A to increase or decrease Zui. 2. The standard number A of outgoing calls is the number TO of the extension telephones in a talking state which exceeds a set reference talking time.
2. The call control method according to claim 1, wherein the call control method is modified according to the following. 3. The call control method according to claim 1, wherein said call standard number A is modified according to a day of the week or a time zone in which a call is made. 4. An exchange connectable to one or more extension telephones.
Automatically call an outside line from the machine, and
A call control method for connecting a telephone to a telephone line , comprising: determining the number CG of external calls during a call, the reference number of calls NBC determined according to the number NEW of vacant extensions, and a call state. From the number TO of the extension telephones that exceed the set reference call time, the reduction coefficient α, and the adjustment coefficient β set according to the day of the week or the time zone in which the call is made, the following equation A = (NBC + TO × α) × β A call control method characterized by performing control so as to be equal to the standard number of calls A obtained by: 5. An exchange connectable to one or more extension telephones.
Automatically call an outside line from the machine, and
A calling control method for connecting a telephone to a telephone line , comprising: the number CG of external telephones being called and the number N of internal telephones in an idle state.
According to the reference number of outgoing calls NBC set according to the EW, the number TO of the extension telephones in the talking state which exceeds the set reference calling time, the reduction coefficient α, and the day of the week or time zone in which the call is made Calling characterized by performing control so as to make a new call of a number equal to the number of call instructions B obtained by the following equation B = (NBC + TO × α) × β−CG from the set adjustment coefficient β. Control method.