JP7697224B2 - Processing device, processing method, and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a processing device, a processing method, and a program.

The voice quality of IP-based calls, such as VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) used in PBX (Private Branch eXchange) and call center systems, depends on network equipment and communication services. For this reason, delays and interruptions in voice packets often occur on lines where it is difficult to control network equipment and communication services. However, in the past, even if the voice quality was poor, calls were connected to a specific operator according to the call center's ACD (Automatic Call Distribution). This reduced the work efficiency of contact center operations. Patent Document 1 discloses a call center system that can reduce the load on the IP telephony server during calls by decoding and encoding voice transfer packets on the client terminal device side.

JP 2010-068341 A

However, the invention of Patent Document 1 still leaves the possibility that calls with poor voice quality may end up being connected to an operator, which could disrupt the operator's work.

In view of the above circumstances, the present invention aims to improve the work efficiency of contact center operations where IP-based calls are made.

In order to solve the above problem, the present invention provides a processing device comprising: a first processing unit that measures communication quality in a first operator device and outputs the measurement value ; a second processing unit that, when the measurement value is equal to or less than a first threshold value and greater than a second threshold value , changes information on a codec used in the first operator device from a first codec to a second codec having a lower bit rate than the first codec; and a third processing unit that, when the measurement value is equal to or less than the second threshold value and the first operator device is in an environment capable of chatting, switches media information used in communication with the first operator device from voice to chat, wherein the second threshold value is smaller than the first threshold value .
At this time, it is preferable to include a fourth processing unit that excludes the first operator device from receiving incoming calls when the measured value is equal to or less than the second threshold value and the first operator device is in an environment where chat support is not possible.
Furthermore, it is preferable that the fifth processing unit changes the communication route of voice packets for a network device of an IP network or changes QoS settings when the measured value is greater than the first threshold and less than a third threshold, and that the third threshold is greater than the first threshold .

The present invention also provides a processing method, characterized in that a processing device executes a first step of measuring communication quality in a first operator device and outputting the measurement value , a second step of changing information on a codec used in the first operator device from a first codec to a second codec having a smaller bit rate than the first codec when the measurement value is equal to or less than a first threshold value and greater than a second threshold value, and a third step of switching media information used in communication with the first operator device from voice to chat when the measurement value is equal to or less than the second threshold value and the first operator device is in an environment capable of chatting , wherein the second threshold value is a threshold value smaller than the first threshold value .

The present invention also provides a program that causes a computer as a processing device to function as a first processing unit that measures communication quality in a first operator device and outputs the measurement value , a second processing unit that changes codec information used in the first operator device from a first codec to a second codec having a lower bit rate than the first codec when the measurement value is equal to or less than a first threshold value and greater than a second threshold value, and a third processing unit that switches media information used in communication with the first operator device from voice to chat when the measurement value is equal to or less than the second threshold value and the first operator device is in an environment where chat is possible, wherein the second threshold value is a threshold value smaller than the first threshold value .

According to the present invention , the work efficiency of contact center operations can be improved.

1 is a functional configuration diagram of a contact center system according to a first embodiment. 5 is a flowchart showing a process of a server according to the first embodiment; FIG. 11 is a functional configuration diagram of a contact center system according to a second embodiment. 10 is a flowchart showing a process of a server according to a second embodiment;

[overview]
The contact center system of this embodiment measures the voice quality between the server and the terminal in an IP-based voice call, and automatically controls to ensure the voice quality based on the measurement result, and automatically determines not to allow calls to be received by terminals with poor voice quality. More specifically, if the contact center system determines that the voice quality cannot be ensured, it automatically changes to a codec with a lower bandwidth, excludes the target terminal, or switches to text support such as chat. In this way, the efficiency of operations is improved by integrating telephone and chat.

[First embodiment]
<Configuration>
1, a contact center system 100 according to the present embodiment is a system for operating a contact center business. The contact center system 100 includes a line accommodating device 10, a server 20, and an administrator terminal 32. In addition, a plurality of operator terminals 31 are provided for the contact center system 100.
The server 20 is a specific example of a "processing device" in the claims.
Moreover, the operator terminal 31 is a specific example of a "first operator device" in the claims.

The line accommodating device 10, the server 20, the operator terminal 31, and the administrator terminal 32 are configured as a computer having a CPU (Central Processing unit), memory, a storage means (storage unit, storage device) such as a hard disk, and a network interface. Various functions of this computer are realized by the CPU executing programs loaded into the memory.

The line accommodating device 10 is a device that converts lines passing through a public line network 41 into VoIP. The public line network 41 can be, for example, a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), but is not limited to this.

In addition, a customer device (not shown) communicatively connected to the public line network 41 can be communicatively connected to the IP network 42 by the line accommodating device 10. In addition, the operator terminal 31 is communicatively connected to the IP network 42. Therefore, the customer device can be communicatively connected to the operator terminal 31 via the IP network 42, and a customer using the customer device and an operator of the operator terminal 31 can make a call or chat. In addition, the server 20 and the administrator terminal 32 are communicatively connected to the IP network 42. The server 20, the operator terminal 31, and the administrator terminal 32 are communicatively connected to the IP network 42.

The server 20 is a device that controls VoIP communications. The server 20 can control call connections by ACD. The server 20 includes a communication measurement unit 21, a database 22, a determination unit 23, and a notification unit 24.

The communication measurement unit 21 measures the voice quality in the operator terminal 31 that makes a VoIP call. More specifically, the communication measurement unit 21 can measure the voice quality between the line accommodating device 10 and the operator terminal 31, and can measure the voice quality between the server 20 and the operator terminal 31. The method of measuring the voice quality may be a well-known method such as measuring the packet delay time or the amount of packet loss, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.
The database 22 accumulates the measurement results of the communication measurement unit 21 .

The judgment unit 23 judges the voice quality measured by the communication measurement unit 21, and if the voice quality is poor, executes a predetermined automatic control on the target operator 31. The details of the automatic control will be described later.
The notification unit 24 notifies the operator terminal 31 and the manager terminal 32 of the measurement result of the communication measurement unit 21 and the automatic control result of the automatic control executed by the determination unit 23 as an alarm.

The communication measurement unit 21 is a specific example of a "first processing unit" in the claims.
Moreover, the measurement value of the voice quality measured by the communication measurement unit 21 is a specific example of "first measurement result information" in the claims.
Moreover, the determination unit 23 is a specific example of a "second processing unit ," a "third processing unit," and a "fourth processing unit" in the claims.

The operator terminal 31 is a terminal used by an operator who performs contact center operations. The operator terminal 31 is capable of IP-based calls and chats. The operator terminal 31 can be, for example, a telephone or a PC. The operator can respond to customers by making calls via a telephone or softphone on a PC, and by chatting via a PC.

The administrator terminal 32 is a terminal used by an administrator who monitors the operation of the contact center business. The administrator terminal 32 is equipped with a specified operational status monitoring tool (not shown) and can monitor calls or chats between customers and operators. In addition, the administrator of the administrator terminal 32 can consider operational changes based on the measurement results and automatic control results notified by the notification unit 24.

<Examples of automatic control>
Examples of automatic control executed by the determination unit 23 are as follows: (1) to (3).
Automatic control example (1): When the measurement value indicating the voice quality measured by the communication measurement unit 21 is equal to or lower than the first threshold value, the voice codec level of the target voice is lowered (automatic voice quality change process). Specifically, the voice codec (bit rate: 64 kbps) based on G.711, which is widely used for transmitting voice signals in a landline telephone network, can be changed to the voice codec (bit rate: 8 kbps) based on G.729, which is widely used for VoIP, but the change method is not limited to this.
The first threshold is a specific example of "first threshold information" in the claims.
Moreover, the voice codec of the target voice is a specific example of "information on the codec used in the first operator device" in the claims.
Moreover, the G.711 audio codec is a specific example of the "first codec" in the claims.
Also, the G.729 audio codec is a specific example of the "second codec" in the claims.

Automatic control example (2): When the measurement value indicating the voice quality measured by the communication measurement unit 21 is equal to or less than the second threshold, if the operator terminal 31 to be called is in an environment where chat support is not possible, the operator terminal 31 is excluded from the target of incoming calls (automatic exclusion process from the target of ACD). The second threshold may be larger or smaller than the first threshold, but a smaller threshold is preferable. Here, the environment where chat support is not possible may be, for example, a situation where the server 20 transmits a text for a reply request by chat to the operator terminal 31, but there is no reply chat from the operator terminal 31 for a predetermined period of time. In addition, the environment where chat support is not possible may be a situation where the operator terminal 31 does not have a chat application installed, and the server 20 knows whether each operator terminal 31 has a chat application installed. However, the judgment regarding the environment where chat support is not possible is not limited to these. The judgment unit 23 can judge in real time whether the operator terminal 31 is in an environment where chat support is not possible .

Automatic control example (3): When the measurement value indicating the voice quality measured by the communication measurement unit 21 is equal to or less than the second threshold value, if the operator terminal 31 of the call target is in an environment where chat support is possible, the customer support by the operator terminal 31 is switched from voice to chat. In other words, the determination unit 23 treats the operator terminal 31 as a terminal that is incapable of customer support by voice calls but is capable of customer support by chat. The server 20 can distribute chat calls from customer devices to operator terminals 31 that are only capable of chat support (operational optimization of the voice-chat integrated environment).
The voice calls and chats for customer support are specific examples of "media information used in communication of the first operator device" in the claims.

<Processing>
The process of the server 20 will be described with reference to FIG.
First, the communication measurement unit 21 measures the voice quality of the operator terminal 31 in use (step S01). Next, the judgment unit 23 judges the measured voice quality (step S02). If the measured value is greater than the first threshold (Yes in step S03), the notification unit 24 notifies the operator terminal 31 and the administrator terminal 32 of the measurement result by the communication measurement unit 21 and the automatic control result of the judgment unit 23, that is, no automatic control (step S04), and the entire process of FIG. 2 is terminated.

On the other hand, if the measured value is greater than the second threshold and less than or equal to the first threshold (No in step S03 -> Yes in step S05), the determination unit 23 lowers the level of the audio codec of the target audio (step S06). After that, the notification unit 24 notifies the operator terminal 31 and the administrator terminal 32 of the measurement result of the measurement by the communication measurement unit 21 and the automatic control result of the automatic control executed by the determination unit 23 (step S04), and the entire process of FIG. 2 is terminated.

If the measured value is equal to or less than the second threshold (No in step S05), the judgment unit 23 judges whether the target operator terminal 31 is in an environment where chat is possible (step S07). If the environment does not allow chat (No in step S07), the judgment unit 23 excludes the target operator terminal 31 from receiving incoming calls (step S08). After that, the notification unit 24 notifies the operator terminal 31 and the administrator terminal 32 of the measurement results of the measurement by the communication measurement unit 21 and the automatic control results of the automatic control executed by the judgment unit 23 (step S04), and the entire process of FIG. 2 is terminated.

On the other hand, if the environment allows chat support (Yes in step S07), the determination unit 23 switches the customer support of the target operator terminal 31 from voice to chat (step S09). After that, the notification unit 24 notifies the operator terminal 31 and the administrator terminal 32 of the measurement results of the measurement by the communication measurement unit 21 and the automatic control results of the automatic control executed by the determination unit 23 (step S04), and the entire process of FIG. 2 is terminated.

According to the first embodiment, for an operator terminal with poor voice quality, automatic control is performed such as lowering the voice quality (lowering the bit rate) and continuing the call, switching to chat customer support, or excluding the terminal from receiving incoming calls, thereby minimizing voice delays and interruptions. Therefore, the work efficiency of contact center operations where IP-based voice calls are made can be improved.
In addition, by notifying the administrator of the results of automatic control, operations can be reviewed. By notifying the operators of the results of automatic control, the operators can also improve the voice quality.
In addition, by recording the voice quality measurement results as statistical information, it will be possible to analyze the operator's communication environment in conjunction with the call statistics.

[Second embodiment]
In describing the second embodiment, differences from the first embodiment will be mainly described, and descriptions of overlapping points will be omitted.
As shown in FIG. 3, the contact center system 200 of the second embodiment further includes a network device 11 as compared with the contact center system 100 of the first embodiment.
The network device 11 is a specific example of a "network device of an IP network" in the claims.

The network device 11 is a relay device that relays packets exchanged via the IP network 42. The network device 11 is communicatively connected to the line accommodating device 10, the server 20, the operator terminal 31, and the administrator terminal 32. The network device 11 may be included in the IP network 42; that is, the line accommodating device 10, the server 20, the operator terminal 31, and the administrator terminal 32 are communicatively connected to the relay devices included in the IP network 42.

The server 20 further includes a network control unit 25 in comparison with the first embodiment. The network control unit 25 changes the communication route of packets and changes the Quality of Service (QoS) settings for the network device 11. The network control unit 25 can also change the communication route of packets and change the Quality of Service (QoS) settings for relay devices included in the IP network 42.
The network control unit 25 is a specific example of a " fifth processing unit" in the claims.

<Examples of automatic control>
An automatic control example (4) is added as an automatic control executed by the determination unit 23 .
Automatic control example (4): When the measurement value indicating the voice quality measured by the communication measurement unit 21 is equal to or lower than the third threshold, the network control unit 25 performs network control on the network device 11, such as changing the communication route of the voice packets or changing the QoS settings. This network control contributes to improving the voice quality. The third threshold may be larger or smaller than the first and second thresholds. In the second embodiment, the third threshold is larger than the first and second thresholds.
The third threshold is a specific example of " second threshold information" in the claims.

<Processing>
The process of the server 20 will be described with reference to FIG.
The process in Fig. 4 is different from the process in Fig. 2 in that steps S10 and S11 are added. Step S10 is executed after step S03. That is, if the measurement value is greater than the third threshold value (Yes in step S10), the notification unit 24 notifies the operator terminal 31 and the manager terminal 32 of the measurement result of the communication measurement unit 21 and the automatic control result of the determination unit 23, that is, no automatic control (step S04), and the entire process in Fig. 4 is terminated.

On the other hand, if the measured value is greater than the first threshold and less than or equal to the third threshold (No in step S10), the network control unit 25 performs network control on the network device 11 (step S11). Thereafter, the notification unit 24 notifies the operator terminal 31 and the administrator terminal 32 of the measurement results of the measurement by the communication measurement unit 21 and the automatic control results of the automatic control executed by the network control unit 25 (step S04), and the entire process of FIG. 4 is terminated. The other processes are the same as those in FIG. 2.

The second embodiment provides the same effects as the first embodiment. In addition, by automatically controlling the network device for an operator terminal determined to have poor communication quality, the communication route and QoS are optimized, and voice quality can be ensured.

<Modification>
(a) By continuing to measure voice quality, it is possible to ensure voice quality even in contact center operations using an Internet line in telework such as working from home. In other words, the present invention can be applied to a network configuration in which an Internet network exists that communicably connects an operator terminal 31 used by an operator at home and an IP network 42.
(b) The communication measurement unit 21 can measure not only the voice quality at the operator terminal 31 but also the quality of other media (e.g., text, still images, and videos) passing through the IP network 42. In other words, the communication measurement unit 21 can measure the communication quality at the operator terminal 31.
(c) Automatic control may be performed by combining at least any of the automatic control examples (1) to (3) adopted in the first embodiment and the automatic control example (4) adopted in the second embodiment.
(d) In the second embodiment, the line accommodating device 10 may be communicatively connected to an IP network 42 .
(e) The present invention can be applied even when the operator terminal 31 is in use.
(f) Means that can be realized in software can be realized in hardware, and means that can be realized in hardware can be realized in software.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100, 200 Contact center system 10 Line accommodation device 20 Server 21 Communication measurement unit 22 Database 23 Determination unit 24 Notification unit 25 Network control unit 31 Operator terminal 32 Manager terminal 41 Public line network 42 IP network

Claims (5)

a first processing unit that measures communication quality in a first operator device and outputs the measurement value ;
a second processing unit that changes information on a codec used by the first operator device from a first codec to a second codec having a bit rate smaller than that of the first codec when the measured value is equal to or smaller than a first threshold value and is greater than a second threshold value;
a third processing unit that switches media information used in communication of the first operator device from voice to chat when the measurement value is equal to or less than the second threshold value and the first operator device is in an environment where chat support is possible ,
The second threshold is smaller than the first threshold.
A processing device comprising: 2. The processing device according to claim 1, further comprising a fourth processing unit that excludes the first operator device from receiving incoming calls when the measured value is equal to or less than the second threshold value and the first operator device is in an environment where chat support is not possible. a fifth processing unit that changes a communication route of a voice packet for a network device of an IP network or changes a QoS setting when the measured value is greater than the first threshold and less than a third threshold ,
The third threshold is a threshold greater than the first threshold.
2. The processing device according to claim 1 . The processing device comprises:
a first step of measuring communication quality in a first operator device and outputting the measurement value ;
a second step of changing information on a codec used by the first operator device from a first codec to a second codec having a bit rate smaller than that of the first codec when the measured value is equal to or smaller than a first threshold value and is greater than a second threshold value;
a third step of switching media information used in communication of the first operator device from voice to chat when the measured value is equal to or less than the second threshold value and the first operator device is in an environment where chat is possible ;
The second threshold is smaller than the first threshold.
A processing method comprising : A computer as a processing device
a first processing unit that measures communication quality in a first operator device and outputs the measurement value ;
a second processing unit that changes information on a codec used in the first operator device from a first codec to a second codec having a bit rate smaller than that of the first codec when the measured value is equal to or smaller than a first threshold value and is greater than a second threshold value;
a third processing unit that switches media information used in communication of the first operator device from voice to chat when the measurement value is equal to or less than the second threshold value and the first operator device is in an environment where chat is possible ;
The second threshold is smaller than the first threshold.
A program characterized by:

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