JP7590900B2 - Call center system, waiting time prediction method, and information processing device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a call center system, a waiting time prediction method, and an information processing device.

Conventionally, there has been technology in telephone reception systems such as call centers that calculates the expected waiting time and notifies users when all operators are busy. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses technology that calculates the expected waiting time from past call records.

JP 2016-100880 A

In the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, the expected waiting time is calculated from past call times and predicted without analyzing the content of the current call in real time. As a result, the content of the call currently being handled is not included in the expected waiting time, which poses the problem of low accuracy of the expected waiting time due to variations in call times.

The present invention aims to provide technology that can provide users with predicted waiting times that are more accurate than ever before.

The call center system according to the present invention is a call center system having a first communication terminal operated by one or more users, a second communication terminal operated by one or more operators, and a reception system for the operators to respond to inquiries from the users, the reception system including a call control unit that controls calls originated or received between the first communication terminal and the second communication terminal, a queue unit that adds a new call originated from the first communication terminal to a queue when the operator is responding and stores the number of the queue, and a call control unit that controls the calls originated or received between the first communication terminal and the second communication terminal. The call center system is configured to include a voice recognition unit that recognizes the voice of a call that is started based on the voice recognition unit, a response time prediction unit that calculates an expected response time for an inquiry based on the inquiry content included in the voice recognized by the voice recognition unit and the response time for the inquiry content determined for each operator, a waiting time calculation unit that calculates an expected waiting time when the operator is responding based on the expected response time for each operator and the number of queues, and a guidance transmission unit that notifies the first communication terminal from which the call was originated of the expected waiting time when the operator is responding.

The present invention makes it possible to provide users with predicted waiting times that are more accurate than ever before.

1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a call center system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a data type table. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a keyword table. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a response time prediction table (initial values). FIG. 13 illustrates an example of an operator skill table. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a fixed inquiry phrase table. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a response time prediction table (in operation); FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a series of inquiry sequences including a waiting time prediction process performed in the present system. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a computer used in the present system.

The following describes an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings. The following description and drawings are examples for explaining the present invention, and some parts have been omitted or simplified as appropriate for clarity of explanation. The present invention can also be implemented in various other forms. Unless otherwise specified, each component may be singular or plural.

The position, size, shape, range, etc. of each component shown in the drawings may not represent the actual position, size, shape, range, etc., in order to facilitate understanding of the invention. Therefore, the present invention is not necessarily limited to the position, size, shape, range, etc. disclosed in the drawings.

In the following explanation, various types of information may be explained using expressions such as "database," "table," and "list," but the various types of information may be expressed in data structures other than these. To indicate independence from data structure, "XX table," "XX list," and the like may be referred to as "XX information." When explaining identification information, when expressions such as "identification information," "identifier," "name," "ID," and "number" are used, these are interchangeable.

When there are multiple components with the same or similar functions, they may be described using the same reference numerals with different subscripts. However, when there is no need to distinguish between these multiple components, the subscripts may be omitted.

In the following description, the processing performed by executing a program may be described, but the program is executed by a processor (e.g., a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit)) to perform a specified process using storage resources (e.g., memory) and/or interface devices (e.g., communication ports) as appropriate, so the subject of the processing may be the processor. Similarly, the subject of the processing performed by executing a program may be a controller, device, system, computer, or node having a processor. The subject of the processing performed by executing a program may be a calculation unit, and may include a dedicated circuit that performs specific processing (e.g., an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) or an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit)).

The program may be installed in a device such as a computer from a program source. The program source may be, for example, a program distribution server or a computer-readable storage medium. When the program source is a program distribution server, the program distribution server may include a processor and a storage resource that stores the program to be distributed, and the processor of the program distribution server may distribute the program to be distributed to other computers. Also, in the following description, two or more programs may be realized as one program, and one program may be realized as two or more programs.

Figure 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a call center system in this embodiment. As shown in Figure 1, the call center system 1000 has a user telephone 100 for a user to check a call between the user and an operator and an automatic response voice via the call reception system 300, an operator telephone 200 for an operator to talk to a user via the call reception system 300, the call reception system 300 that transfers voice data of a call received from the user telephone 100 to the operator telephone 200, or analyzes the voice content of the voice data and responds to the user telephone 100 with an expected waiting time, and a system maintenance terminal 400 for performing maintenance of the call reception system 300.

The user telephone 100 and the operator telephone 200 can be general telephones that have been known in the past, so a detailed description of their hardware configuration and functions will be omitted. The call reception system 300 and the user telephone 100 are connected by a network N, which is a general public line network. The call reception system 300 and the operator telephone 200, and the call reception system 300 and the system maintenance terminal 400 are connected by general communication lines such as a LAN (Local Area Network). In the following, the user telephone 100 and the operator telephone 200 are shown as examples of terminals operated by users and operators, respectively, but the same can be applied to various communication terminals with calling functions, including smartphones.

The telephone reception system 300 is configured to include a call control unit 301, a guidance transmission unit 302, a user voice reception unit 303, an operator voice transmission unit 304, an operator communication unit 305, a user voice transmission unit 306, an operator voice reception unit 307, a queue unit 308, a waiting time calculation unit 309, a call history management unit 310, a response time prediction unit 311, a system data management unit 312, a voice recognition unit 313, and a data storage unit 314. The telephone reception system 300 can be configured as an information processing device such as a server that controls responses by operators to inquiries from users between a user telephone 100 operated by one or more users and an operator telephone 200 operated by one or more operators.

The telephone reception system 300 and the maintenance terminal 400 shown in FIG. 1 can be realized, for example, by a general computer 1600 as shown in FIG. 9 (schematic computer diagram) that includes a CPU 1601, memory 1602, an external storage device 1603 such as a HDD (Hard Disk Drive), a reading/writing device 1607 that reads and writes information from a portable storage medium 1608 such as a CD (Compact Disk) or USB memory, an input device 1606 such as a keyboard or mouse, an output device 1605 such as a display, a communication device 1604 such as a NIC (Network Interface Card) for connecting to a communication network, and an internal communication line (called a system bus) 1609 such as a system bus that connects these.

Various data stored in each system or device (e.g., data storage unit 314) or used for processing can be realized by the CPU 1601 reading it from memory 1602 or external storage device 1603 and using it. Also, each functional unit of each system or device (e.g., call control unit 301, guidance transmission unit 302, user voice reception unit 303, operator voice transmission unit 304, operator communication unit 305, user voice transmission unit 306, operator voice reception unit 307, queue unit 308, waiting time calculation unit 309, call history management unit 310, response time prediction unit 311, system data management unit 312, voice recognition unit 313) can be realized by the CPU 1601 loading a specific program stored in the external storage device 1603 into memory 1602 and executing it.

The above-mentioned specific program may be stored (downloaded) in the external storage device 1603 from the storage medium 1608 via the reading device 1607 or from the network via the communication device 1604, and then loaded onto the memory 1602 and executed by the CPU 1601. Alternatively, the program may be directly loaded onto the memory 1602 from the storage medium 1608 via the reading device 1607 or from the network via the communication device 1604, and then executed by the CPU 1601.

The following describes an example in which the telephone reception system 300 is configured from a single computer, but similar functions may be realized by distributing all or part of these functions across one or more computers, such as a cloud, and communicating with each other via a network.

The call control unit 301 is a processing unit that controls calls between the user telephone 100 and the operator telephone 200, etc. The guidance transmission unit 302 is a processing unit that notifies the user telephone 100 of an expected waiting time, etc. The user voice receiving unit 303 is a processing unit that receives voice data of a call originated from the user telephone 100, etc. The operator voice transmitting unit 304 is a processing unit that transmits the above voice data received by the operator voice receiving unit 307 to the user telephone 100, etc. The operator communication unit 305 is a processing unit that receives a call controlled by the call control unit 301 and calls the operator telephone 200, etc. The user voice transmitting unit 306 is a processing unit that transmits the above voice data received by the user voice receiving unit 303 to the operator telephone 200, etc. The operator voice receiving unit 307 is a processing unit that receives voice data of a call originated from the operator telephone 200, etc.

The queue unit 308 is a processing unit that puts a newly received call from a user telephone 100 into a waiting state when all operator telephones 200 are busy, and manages the order of the calls. The waiting time calculation unit 309 is a processing unit that calculates the user's expected waiting time based on the operator's expected response time estimated by the response time prediction unit 311. The call history management unit 310 is a processing unit that updates the operator's expected response time. The response time prediction unit 311 is a processing unit that calculates the operator's expected response time based on the analysis of the voice data of the call by the voice recognition unit 313. The system data management unit 312 is a processing unit that sets various tables and data used in this system. The voice recognition unit 313 is a processing unit that analyzes the content of the voice data of the call between the user and the operator. The data storage unit 314 is, for example, a storage device such as an HDD (external storage device 1603), and is a storage device (or storage medium) that stores the data type table 201, the keyword table 301, the response time prediction tables 401 and 701, the operator skill table 501, and the fixed inquiry phrase table 601. The specific processing performed by each functional unit of the call reception system 300 will be described later.

Figure 2 is a diagram showing an example of a data type table 201. The data type table 201 is a table for classifying the contents of a call between a user and an operator. As shown in Figure 2, the data type table 201 stores classification information for classifying, recognizing, and identifying the type of call content, in association with the classified content classified by the classification information. In Figure 2, for example, it can be seen that the content classified by classification information "1" is "product name". In other words, this indicates that the call content must include at least "product name".

Figure 3 is a diagram showing an example of a keyword table 301. The keyword table 301 is a table that defines keywords that should be included in the items of the category contents classified by the data type table 201. As shown in Figure 3, the keyword table 301 stores the category contents shown in Figure 2 in association with the keywords that should be included in the category contents. In Figure 3, for example, for the category content "product name", it can be seen that the names of product name 1, product name 2, and product name 3 are defined as keywords that should be included in the call between the user and the operator. Similarly, for the category content "inquiry content", it can be seen that terms such as "not working", "want to replace", and "how to use" are defined as keywords that should be included in the call between the user and the operator. In this example, a case is shown in which these terms are explicitly included, but terms that are close to these terms to a certain extent may be included by semantic analysis or the like.

Figure 4 is a diagram showing an example of a response time prediction table 401 (initial value). The response time prediction table 401 is a table that defines the initial value of the predicted time for an operator to respond to a call between an operator and a user. As shown in Figure 4, the response time prediction table 401 stores keywords (category contents 1 to 4 in Figure 4) corresponding to one or more category contents shown in Figures 2 and 3, and initial values of the response time that an operator is expected to need to respond to a call classified by the one or more category contents, in association with each other. For example, Figure 4 shows that in a call with a user identified by a combination of the keyword "product name 1" for category content 1 (product name), the keyword "not working" for category content 2 (inquiry content), and the keyword "○○" for category content 3 (function type), the operator is expected to need to respond to the user for 180 seconds. For example, in the case of a printer, the function "○○" can be a hardware function such as an ejection roller that ejects paper, as well as a software function such as a touch operation on an operation panel, and various other functions that are determined according to the product. The response time prediction table 701 will be described later with reference to Figure 7.

Figure 5 is a diagram showing an example of an operator skill table 501. The operator skill table 501 is a table that defines the skill levels of operators. As shown in Figure 5, the operator skill table 501 stores an operator ID for identifying an operator, the name of the operator identified by the operator ID, and a capability coefficient that defines the skill level of the operator, in association with each other. Figure 5 shows, for example, that the name of the operator with operator ID "1" is "OO OO" and the capability coefficient is "1.2".

Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a fixed inquiry phrase table 601. The fixed inquiry phrase table 601 is a table that defines the inquiry format for the category content "inquiry content". As shown in Fig. 6, the fixed inquiry phrase table 601 stores inquiry content format types for identifying the format of the inquiry content and inquiry content data identified by the type in association with each other. In Fig. 6, for example, when the inquiry content is recognized as one item by voice recognition, the fixed phrase "We will respond to your inquiry about the content [ ]" is defined as the sentence that the operator should reply. The specification is such that [ ] includes at least a wording including the keyword shown in Fig. 3.

Figure 7 is a diagram showing an example of a response time prediction table 701 (in operation). The response time prediction table 701 is a table that defines the predicted time for an operator to respond to a call between an operator and a user during operation. As shown in Figure 7, the response time prediction table 701, like the contents shown in Figure 4, stores category content keywords (category content 1 to 4 in Figure 7), the names of operators described in Figure 5, and the predicted response times when the operators respond to calls identified by the combinations, in association with each other. Also, in Figure 7, a table ID for identifying each record is stored in association with these items. In Figure 7, all keyword combinations for which an operator is expected to respond to calls between an operator and a user are stored.

In FIG. 7, for example, the expected response time is 216 seconds when operator "○○ ○○" responds to a call with a user identified by table ID "1" and with a combination of keyword "product name 1" for category content 1 (product name), keyword "not working" for category content 2 (inquiry content), and keyword "○○" for category content 3 (function type). The expected response time can be calculated by multiplying the initial response time value shown in FIG. 4 by the ability coefficient set for each operator shown in FIG. 5.

Next, the sequence performed by this system will be described. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a series of inquiry sequences including the waiting time prediction process performed by this system. In the following, the data storage unit 314 is not shown.

As shown in FIG. 8, before the start of operation, the system maintenance terminal 400 accepts operations from the administrator of the system, sets the items in each table shown in FIGS. 2 to 6, and transmits these tables to the system data management unit 312 of the telephone reception system 300. The system data management unit 312 stores these tables received from the system maintenance terminal 400 in the data storage unit 314 (S801).

Next, when the system is started for the first time, the response time prediction unit 311 of the call reception system 300 obtains the response time prediction table 401 shown in FIG. 4 and the operator skill table 501 shown in FIG. 5 from the data storage unit 314, and generates the response time prediction table 701 for each operator shown in FIG. 7 (S802). The data in the response time prediction table 701 for each operator generated here is the initial value for each operator, and as described below, each time a call with a user ends, the predicted response time is updated based on the call duration and standard deviation.

When the operator telephone 200 is available, the user telephone 100 (user telephone 1) accepts an operation from the user and makes a call to the call reception system 300 (S803).

After accepting an incoming call from the user telephone 100, the call control unit 301 of the telephone reception system 300 notifies the operator communication unit 305 of the call, and the operator communication unit 305 performs a call process, such as assigning an operator telephone 200 with an available extension number and calling the operator who operates the operator telephone 200 (S804). A conventionally known technique may be used for the call process. The operator telephone 200 and the operator ID are associated with each other, and are stored, for example, in a storage medium such as a memory of the operator telephone 200 (not shown).

Then, the call is started when the operator answers the call made by the above call process (S805).

When a call is started, the user voice receiving unit 303 transfers voice data including the voice from the user to the operator telephone 200 via the operator voice transmitting unit 304, and the operator voice receiving unit 307 transfers voice data including the voice from the operator telephone 200 to the user telephone 100 via the user voice transmitting unit 306. At this time, the user voice receiving unit 303 broadcasts the above voice data from the user to the response time prediction unit 311, and the operator voice receiving unit 307 broadcasts the above voice data from the operator to the response time prediction unit 311 (S807, S808).

After the call starts, the call control unit 301 notifies the response time prediction unit 311 of the operator ID of the operator who operates the assigned operator telephone 200 and information for classifying the above voice data for each operator (e.g., the port numbers of the user telephone 100 and the operator telephone 200) (S809). When the processing of S809 ends, the response time prediction unit 311 starts predicting the call time.

During a call between the user and the operator, the response time prediction unit 311 receives the above voice data of the user and the operator in real time in S807 and S808. The response time prediction unit 311 can distinguish the received voice data for each operator based on the information notified in S809 that classifies the above voice data for each operator (e.g., the port numbers of the user telephone 100 and the operator telephone 200, etc.).

The response time prediction unit 311 uses a timer (not shown) to measure the time elapsed from the start of the call to the end of the call in the voice data received in S807 and S808, and inputs the voice data to the voice recognition unit 313 (S810). From the input voice data, the voice recognition unit 313 acquires voice data of a portion corresponding to a format identified by either "for recognizing one inquiry" or "for recognizing multiple inquiries" in the inquiry template table 601 shown in FIG. 6. From the acquired voice data, the voice recognition unit 313 extracts keywords contained in the keyword table 301 shown in FIG. 3, and recognizes keywords 1 to n (S811).

If the voice recognition unit 313 cannot find any of the above inquiry content recognition template, it will wait a few seconds and repeat the process. The above inquiry content recognition template should be made known to the operators working on the system in advance, and they should be trained in advance to always speak the template when responding to users. By using this in conjunction with the creation of rules for the response procedures (utterances, etc.) by the operators, it is possible to improve the efficiency of voice recognition.

The response time prediction unit 311 uses the keyword 1 to keyword n recognized in S811 and the operator ID acquired in S809 as keys to identify the corresponding table ID from the response time prediction table 701 for each operator shown in FIG. 7, and determines the expected response time (S812). Note that in S811, if the voice recognition unit 313 acquires voice data that corresponds to the format identified in "For recognizing multiple inquiry contents", i.e., if there are multiple inquiry contents, it repeats the extraction of keywords in S811, the recognition of keywords 1 to keyword n, and the determination of the expected response time in S812 for the number of cases, and then adds the total to the expected response time.

In order to respond to changes in the content of the conversation, the response time prediction unit 311 periodically (e.g., every 60 seconds, as set in advance by the system) monitors whether the voice data contains a portion that corresponds to a format identified as either "for correcting inquiry content" or "for adding inquiry content" in the inquiry template table 601 shown in Figure 6 (S813).

The response time prediction unit 311 determines whether the content of the call has changed by determining whether the voice data includes a portion that corresponds to a format identified as either "for correcting the inquiry" or "for adding the inquiry" (S814). If it is determined that the content of the call has changed (S814; Yes), the process returns to S811 and repeats the subsequent processes.

For example, when the response time prediction unit 311 determines that the voice data contains a portion that corresponds to the format for "correcting inquiry content," it resets the predicted response time calculated up to that point, and calculates a new predicted response time. Also, when the response time prediction unit 311 determines that the voice data contains a portion that corresponds to the format for "adding inquiry content," it determines, in addition to the predicted response time calculated up to that point, a predicted response time corresponding to the added portion of the voice data, using the predicted response time table 701 for each operator shown in FIG. 7, and calculates a new predicted response time by adding the predicted response time calculated up to that point and the determined predicted response time.

If the response time prediction unit 311 determines that there has been no change in the content of the call (S814; No), it outputs the calculated or determined expected response time as the latest expected response time. After that, the response time prediction unit 311 continues to monitor changes in the conversation content in S813 and to determine whether there has been a change in the content of the call in S814, even after outputting the calculated or determined expected response time, until the call with the user is disconnected, and if it determines that there has been a change in the content of the call (S814; Yes), it notifies the waiting time calculation unit 309 of this (S822-1).

Now consider how to notify a user of the expected waiting time when there are no free operator telephones. In S815, when there are no free operator telephones 200, the user telephone 100 (user telephone 2) accepts an operation from the user and makes a call to the call reception system 300 (S815).

After receiving an incoming call from a user telephone 100, the call control unit 301 of the call reception system 300 recognizes that all operators are responding and notifies the queue unit 308 of that fact. Based on the notification from the call control unit 301, the queue unit 308 adds the call to the queue, adds the number of people waiting, stores that number, and outputs that number to the waiting time calculation unit 309 (S816). As will be described later, the queue is decremented when a call between a user and an operator ends or when a waiting user cancels a call. The recognition that all operators are responding can be performed, for example, by the operator communication unit 305 notifying the call control unit 301 of that fact when an operator telephone 200 with an available extension number cannot be assigned.

Next, the call control unit 301 instructs the waiting time calculation unit 309 to notify the waiting time (S817).

The wait time calculation unit 309 obtains the latest expected response time determined or calculated up to S814 from the response time prediction unit 311 (S818). As already explained, the response time prediction unit 311 outputs the expected response time of each agent obtained by executing the processes of S810 to S814 to the wait time calculation unit 309.

The waiting time calculation unit 309 acquires the number of people waiting stored in the queue unit 308. For each of the acquired numbers of people waiting, i.e., for each user currently waiting, the waiting time calculation unit 309 adds the expected response time corresponding to the number of people waiting to the expected waiting time in ascending order of expected response time (S819).

For example, in FIG. 1, it is assumed that the queue unit 308 stores the calls of three users, A, B, and C. The calls of users A, B, and C are stored in the queue unit 308 in this order, with user A's call stored as the first one. In this case, the waiting time calculation unit 309 first obtains the number of people waiting, "3," stored in the queue unit 308. The waiting time calculation unit 309 then obtains the expected response time at which the waiting state is released the earliest, that is, the shortest expected response time, among the expected response times of each operator obtained by executing the processes of S810 to S814, and sets this as the expected waiting time for user A. The waiting time calculation unit 309 then obtains the second shortest expected response time among the expected response times of each operator obtained by executing the processes of S810 to S814, and sets the time obtained by adding the expected response time for user A to this obtained expected response time as the expected waiting time for user B. Similarly, the waiting time calculation unit 309 obtains the third shortest expected response time from among the expected response times of each agent obtained by executing the processes of S810 to S814, and determines the expected waiting time for user C by adding the expected response times for users A and B to the obtained expected response time.

In this way, after all operators are busy, user A, who accepted the call first, has one person waiting, and user B, who accepted the call next, has two people waiting. User A can be available once one of the operators has finished its call (for example, if there is one operator, it is the call of the operator with the shortest expected response time. If there are two operators, it is the call of the operator with the shortest expected response time and the call of the operator with the next shortest expected response time) and user B has finished their call. Therefore, the waiting time calculation unit 309 calculates the expected response time for the number of waiting users for each of user A and user B.

Then, the waiting time calculation unit 309 outputs these calculated estimated waiting times to the guidance transmission unit 302, and the guidance transmission unit 302 notifies the user telephones 100 operated by users A, B, and C, respectively (S820).

Then, the waiting time calculation unit 309 periodically (for example, every 10 seconds, which is preset by the system) monitors the number of queues stored in the queue unit 308 and the changes therein (S821). Furthermore, the waiting time calculation unit 309 determines whether or not it has received a notification from the response time prediction unit 311 that it has determined in S822-1 that there has been a further change in the call content (S822-2), and if it determines that it has received a notification that there has been a further change in the call content (S822-2; Yes), it returns to S810 and repeats the subsequent processes.

Then, the response time prediction unit 311 determines and calculates a new expected response time (S812), and again monitors whether the voice data includes a portion corresponding to a format identified as "for correcting the inquiry content" or "for adding the inquiry content" in the inquiry template table 601 (S813). If the response time prediction unit 311 determines that there is no change in the call content (S814; No), it outputs the calculated or determined expected response time as the latest expected response time. In S819, the waiting time calculation unit 309 uses the latest expected response time output by the response time prediction unit 311 to add the expected response time according to the number of waiting users to the expected waiting time for each of the waiting users, in order of the least expected response time, and in S820, the guidance transmission unit 302 notifies the user telephone 100 operated by each user of the newly calculated latest expected waiting time.

In this way, even after the user has been notified of the expected waiting time, the latest expected waiting time is calculated in response to changes in the content of the call between the user and the operator during the call, and the user is notified. Therefore, the user can know the waiting time with greater accuracy than before, and can appropriately decide whether or not to hang up the phone, which leads to a reduction in the user's stress.

Furthermore, if the waiting time calculation unit 309 determines in S822-2 that it has not received any notification that it has determined that there has been a further change in the call content (S822-2; No), it determines whether there has been a change in the number of queues monitored in S821 and the change therein (S823). If the waiting time calculation unit 309 determines in S821 that there has been no change in the number of queues monitored and the change therein (S823; No), it returns to S821 and continues to monitor the number of queues stored in the queue unit 308 and the change therein.

On the other hand, if the waiting time calculation unit 309 determines in S821 that there has been a change in the number of queues monitored and the change in that number (S823; Yes), it returns to S819, obtains the latest number of people waiting at that time stored in the queue unit 308, calculates an expected response time for each of the obtained numbers of people waiting (S819), and notifies the user telephone 100 operated by each user of the expected waiting time calculated by the guidance transmission unit 302 according to the latest number of people waiting (S820).

In this way, even if the number of people in the queue changes, the latest expected waiting time is calculated according to the changed number of people in the queue and notified to the user. Therefore, just as in the case where the content of the call between the user and the operator changes during a call, the user can know the waiting time with greater accuracy than before, and can appropriately decide whether or not to hang up the phone, which leads to a reduction in stress for the user.

In S819, if the number of people waiting output from the queue unit 308 in S816 exceeds the number of all operators (i.e., the total number of operator telephones 200) by a certain threshold, the guidance transmission unit 302 notifies the user telephone 100 of this fact and prompts the user to input a representative keyword (e.g., the product name for keyword 1, the inquiry content for keyword 2) by voice. When the user voice reception unit 303 receives the input voice, the response time prediction unit 311 uses the keyword and "-", which indicates that the operator's name is unknown, as keys to identify the corresponding table ID from the response time prediction table 701 for each operator shown in FIG. 7, and performs the same process as S812, which determines the expected response time. The reason why the operator's name is unknown is because an operator cannot be assigned.

Furthermore, as in the case of S819, the waiting time calculation unit 309 obtains the number of people waiting stored in the queue unit 308, and for each of the obtained number of people waiting, i.e., for each user currently waiting, adds to the expected waiting time the expected response time corresponding to the number of people waiting, in order of the shortest expected response time. Further, as in the case of S820, the waiting time calculation unit 309 outputs these calculated expected waiting times to the guidance transmission unit 302, and the guidance transmission unit 302 notifies the user telephones 100 operated by users A, B, and C, respectively.

In this way, by repeating the process up to S823, the user can grasp the latest waiting time that tracks changes in the service content and the number of people waiting.

After that, when the call between the previous user and the operator ends, the expected response time is updated as shown below.

For example, when the call control unit 301 detects the end of a call from the user telephone 100 (user telephone 1) based on the disconnection operation of the outgoing call performed in S803 (S824), it notifies the response time prediction unit 311 that the call of the operator operating the operator telephone 200 assigned in S804 has ended (S825).

The response time prediction unit 311 calculates the time from S806 to S825, that is, the elapsed time from the start of the call to the end of the call, and stores the voice data of the call during the elapsed time in association with the operator ID (or name) and table ID (S826). At this time, the response time prediction unit 311 determines whether the call of the operator was about one inquiry or multiple inquiries in the process from S810 to S814. If the response time prediction unit 311 determines that the call was about one inquiry, it sets the calculated elapsed time as the actual response time of the operator. If the response time prediction unit 311 determines that the call was about multiple inquiries, it divides the call time for each part of the voice data that corresponds to a format identified by one of the "recognition of multiple inquiry contents", calculates the elapsed time for each inquiry (i.e., the combination of keywords shown in FIG. 7), and sets the calculated elapsed time as the actual response time of the operator for each combination of keywords (S827).

Then, the response time prediction unit 311 refers to the response time prediction table 701 for each operator shown in FIG. 7, and notifies the call history management unit 310 of the table ID of the keyword combination corresponding to the response time calculated in S827 and the response time (S828). In this case, the response time prediction unit 311 notifies the call history management unit 310 of the calculated response time not only for the corresponding table ID, but also for table IDs that contain the same keyword as the corresponding table ID (for example, table IDs "14" to "16" in FIG. 7).

The call history management unit 310 updates the response time prediction table 701 for each operator shown in FIG. 7 for the table of the table ID notified by the response time prediction unit 311 (S829). For example, if the predicted response time in the response time prediction table 701 remains at the initial value (i.e., the same value as the response time initial value shown in FIG. 4), the call history management unit 310 sets the response time calculated in S827 as the predicted response time. If the predicted response time in the response time prediction table 701 is not at the initial value, the call history management unit 310 calculates the standard deviation of the response time when the current response is made from the response time (i.e., the response time when the previous response was made) and updates the predicted response time. In addition, in S826, the call history management unit 310 stores a certain number of past response times used to calculate the standard deviation for each table ID in order to calculate the standard deviation at the next update. The number of past response times to be stored may be determined according to the type of business in the system and the database capacity.

In this way, by performing the processing up to S829, the expected response time of the operator, which is the basis for the expected waiting time notified to the user, can be updated to the latest state for each operator. Therefore, when the content of the call between the user and the operator during a call changes, or when the number of people in the queue changes, the information on which the expected response time is calculated can be provided to the waiting time calculation unit 309 and the response time prediction unit 311 with high accuracy according to the latest response status of the operator. As a result, the user can know the waiting time with even greater accuracy than before, and can appropriately decide whether or not to hang up the phone, which can lead to a reduction in the user's stress.

As described above, the call center system 1000 in this embodiment analyzes the content of the call that the operator is handling in real time and reflects this in the calculation of the expected waiting time, thereby providing users with a highly accurate expected waiting time.

That is, in a call center system 1000 having a first communication terminal (e.g., user telephone 100) operated by one or more users, a second communication terminal (operator telephone 200) operated by one or more operators, and a reception system (e.g., telephone reception system 300) for the operator to respond to inquiries from the users, the reception system includes a call control unit (e.g., call control unit 301) that controls calls made or received between the first communication terminal and the second communication terminal, a queue unit (e.g., queue unit 308) that adds a new call made from the first communication terminal to a queue when the operator is responding and stores the number of the queue, and a queue control unit (e.g., queue control unit 309) that controls a call control unit between the first communication terminal and the second communication terminal. The system has a voice recognition unit (e.g., voice recognition unit 313) that recognizes the voice of the call that was started based on the call received, a response time prediction unit (e.g., 311) that calculates an expected response time for the inquiry based on the inquiry content contained in the voice recognized by the voice recognition unit and the response time for the inquiry content determined for each operator, a waiting time calculation unit (e.g., waiting time calculation unit 309) that calculates an expected waiting time when the operator is responding based on the expected response time for each operator and the number of queues, and a guidance transmission unit (e.g., guidance transmission unit 302) that notifies the first communication terminal from which the call was originated of the expected waiting time when the operator is responding, so that a highly accurate expected waiting time can be provided to the user.

As described in S811 to S814 of FIG. 8, when the format of the inquiry content changes, the response time prediction unit calculates a new expected response time based on the inquiry content in the changed format and the response time for the inquiry content. Therefore, it is possible to track changes in the content of the call between the operator and the user and calculate an expected response time according to the changes.

As described in S819 to S823 of FIG. 8, when there is a change in the number of queues, the waiting time calculation unit calculates a new expected waiting time based on the number of queues after the change and the expected response time for each operator. Therefore, it is possible to track the change in the number of users waiting and calculate an expected waiting time according to the change.

Also, as explained in the processes of S822-1, S822-2, and S810 onward in FIG. 8, when there is a change in the number of people in the queue and further when the response time prediction unit is notified that there has been a change in the format of the inquiry content, the waiting time calculation unit issues an instruction to the response time prediction unit to calculate the new expected response time, and calculates the expected waiting time using the newly calculated expected response time based on the notification. Therefore, even if the content of calls between the operator and the user changes repeatedly, it is possible to calculate the expected response time according to the changes.

As described in S826 to S829 of FIG. 8, the system includes a history management unit (e.g., call history management unit 310) that manages the history of responses made by the operator to inquiries from the user, and when the call control unit receives a call disconnection request from the first communication terminal, the response time prediction unit calculates the call time from when the call that received the disconnection request was made to when the disconnection request is received as the response time, and the history management unit calculates a new response time based on the response time and past response times, and updates the predicted response time with the calculated new response time. Therefore, the predicted response time can be determined based on past response performance.

Although the above has been explained in detail using the drawings, the present invention is not limited to the various examples described above, and various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention.

For example, after determining in S822 whether there has been a change in the content of the call, in S823 it is determined whether there has been a change in the number of queues and the change in that number. However, for example, when the system is used in an environment where there are many inquiries from users and the number of people waiting changes frequently, the order of these steps may be reversed and the process of S823 may be performed first, or the order of the processes of S822 and S823 may be selected or switched by instructions from the system maintenance terminal 400. This allows for prompt and accurate notification of the waiting time.

1000 Call center system 100 User telephone 200 Operator telephone 300 Call reception system 400 System maintenance terminal 301 Call control unit 302 Guidance transmission unit 303 User voice reception unit 304 Operator voice transmission unit 305 Operator communication unit 306 User voice transmission unit 307 Operator voice reception unit 308 Queue unit 309 Waiting time calculation unit 310 Call history management unit 311 Response time prediction unit 312 System data management unit 313 Voice recognition unit 314 Data storage unit 201 Data type table 301 Keyword table 401 Response time prediction table (initial value)
501 Operator skill table 601 Inquiry template table 701 Response time forecast table (in operation)
N Network

Claims (11)

A call center system comprising a first communication terminal operated by one or more users, a second communication terminal operated by one or more operators, and a reception system for the operators to respond to inquiries from the users,
The reception system includes:
a call control unit that controls a call originated or received between the first communication terminal and the second communication terminal;
a queue unit that adds a new call originating from the first communication terminal to a queue while the operator is answering the call, and stores the number of the queues;
a voice recognition unit that recognizes a voice of a call that is started based on a controlled call between the first communication terminal and the second communication terminal;
a response time prediction unit that calculates an expected response time for the inquiry based on the inquiry content included in the voice recognized by the voice recognition unit and a response time for the inquiry content determined for each operator;
a waiting time calculation unit that calculates an expected waiting time when the agent is responding based on the expected response time for each agent and the number of queues;
a guidance sending unit that notifies the first communication terminal from which the call was originated of the expected waiting time while the operator is responding;
A call center system comprising: the response time prediction unit, when there is a change in the format of the inquiry content, calculates a new predicted response time based on the inquiry content in the changed format and the response time for the inquiry content.
2. The call center system according to claim 1, the waiting time calculation unit, when there is a change in the number of queues, calculates a new expected waiting time based on the number of queues after the change and the expected response time for each of the agents;
2. The call center system according to claim 1, when there is a change in the number of queues and when the response time prediction unit notifies the user that there is a change in the format of the inquiry, the waiting time calculation unit issues an instruction to the response time prediction unit to calculate a new expected response time, and calculates the expected waiting time using the new expected response time calculated based on the notification.
3. The call center system according to claim 2. a history management unit for managing a response history by the operator to an inquiry from the user,
the response time prediction unit, when the call control unit receives a disconnection request for a call from the first communication terminal, calculates, as a response time, a call duration from when the call that has received the disconnection request is originated to when the disconnection request is received;
the history management unit calculates a new response time based on the response time and past response times, and updates the expected response time with the calculated new response time.
2. The call center system according to claim 1, A waiting time prediction method carried out in a call center system having a first communication terminal operated by one or more users, a second communication terminal operated by one or more operators, and a reception system for the operators to respond to inquiries from the users, comprising:
a call control unit that controls a call originated or received between the first communication terminal and the second communication terminal;
a queue unit that adds a new call originated from the first communication terminal to a queue when the operator is answering the call, and stores the number of the queues;
a voice recognition unit that recognizes a voice of a call that is started based on a controlled call between the first communication terminal and the second communication terminal;
a response time prediction unit calculates a predicted response time for the inquiry based on the inquiry content included in the voice recognized by the voice recognition unit and a response time for the inquiry content determined for each agent;
a waiting time calculation unit calculates an expected waiting time when the agent is responding based on the expected response time for each agent and the number of queues;
a guidance sending unit notifying the first communication terminal from which the call was originated of the expected waiting time while the operator is responding;
A waiting time prediction method. the response time prediction unit, when there is a change in the format of the inquiry content, calculates a new predicted response time based on the inquiry content in the changed format and the response time for the inquiry content.
The method of claim 6, wherein the waiting time prediction method is a method for predicting a waiting time based on the received signal. the waiting time calculation unit, when there is a change in the number of queues, calculates a new expected waiting time based on the number of queues after the change and the expected response time for each of the agents;
The method of claim 6, wherein the waiting time prediction method is a method for predicting a waiting time based on the received signal. when there is a change in the number of queues and when the response time prediction unit notifies the user that there is a change in the format of the inquiry, the waiting time calculation unit issues an instruction to the response time prediction unit to calculate a new expected response time, and calculates the expected waiting time using the new expected response time calculated based on the notification.
The method of claim 7, wherein the waiting time prediction method is a method for predicting a waiting time based on the received signal. In the call center system, the call center system further includes a history management unit that manages a response history of the operator to an inquiry from the user,
the response time prediction unit, when the call control unit receives a disconnection request for a call from the first communication terminal, calculates, as a response time, a call duration from when the call that has received the disconnection request is originated to when the disconnection request is received;
the history management unit calculates a new response time based on the response time and past response times, and updates the expected response time with the calculated new response time.
The method of claim 6, wherein the waiting time prediction method is a method for predicting a waiting time based on the received signal. 1. An information processing device that controls a response by one or more operators to an inquiry from a first communication terminal operated by one or more users and a second communication terminal operated by one or more operators, comprising:
a call control unit that controls a call originated or received between the first communication terminal and the second communication terminal;
a queue unit that adds a new call originating from the first communication terminal to a queue while the operator is answering the call, and stores the number of the queues;
a voice recognition unit that recognizes a voice of a call that is started based on a controlled call between the first communication terminal and the second communication terminal;
a response time prediction unit that calculates an expected response time for the inquiry based on the inquiry content included in the voice recognized by the voice recognition unit and a response time for the inquiry content determined for each operator;
a waiting time calculation unit that calculates an expected waiting time when the agent is responding based on the expected response time for each agent and the number of queues;
a guidance sending unit that notifies the first communication terminal from which the call was originated of the expected waiting time while the operator is responding;
13. An information processing device comprising:

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