Method and system for distributing outbound telephone calls

Abstract

A method and system is provided for the distribution of outbound telephone calls. This method and system includes dialing devices receiving call records and providing telephone calls to one or more agents. Interfaced with the dialing device is a distribution module including pools and queues. The distribution module places the call records into the pools and transfers less than all of the call records to the queues to allow for calling by the dialing devices at peak efficiency. The distribution module transfers the queues to the dialing devices so that the dialing device can place telephone calls. The distribution module monitors the queues to determine when to send additional call records to the queues. In addition, distribution module monitors the results of the call records and updates the call records in the pools so that call records with unsuccessful outcomes can be safely called again later in the day.

Claims

1. A system for distributing outbound telephone calls, the system comprising: a .[.distribution module.]. .Iadd.server .Iaddend.having a plurality of call records, the .[.distribution module operable.]. .Iadd.server configured .Iaddend.to place .[.the.]. .Iadd.respective subsets of the plurality of .Iaddend.call records into plural queues .[.and.]. .Iadd.associated with a single campaign, the server further configured .Iaddend.to transfer each of the plural queues to .Iadd.a respective .Iaddend.one of .[.plural.]. .Iadd.a plurality of .Iaddend.dialing devices, .Iadd.wherein .Iaddend.each .Iadd.of the plurality of .Iaddend.dialing .[.device operable to support.]. .Iadd.devices comprises a predictive dialer in a respective contact center that is configured to originate .Iaddend.plural contacts for plural agents .[.with the.]. .Iadd.using one of the respective subsets of the plurality of .Iaddend.call records.Iadd., wherein the server is further configured to: monitor each of the plurality of dialing devices to determine contact results comprising at least one of right party contacts, wrong party contacts, no answers, and detection of answering machines associated with the plural contacts originated using the one of the respective subsets of the plurality of call records, and automatically transfer additional call records from the plurality of call records to one or more of the plural queues based on at least one of the right party contacts, the wrong party contacts, the no answers, and the detection of answering machines.Iaddend..

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the .[.distribution module.]. .Iadd.server .Iaddend.is further .[.operable.]. .Iadd.configured .Iaddend.to transfer .Iadd.the .Iaddend.additional call records to .[.the.]. .Iadd.one or more of the plural .Iaddend.queues .[.if.]. .Iadd.upon determining the contact results indicate .Iaddend.the .Iadd.respective one of the plurality of .Iaddend.dialing devices .[.have.]. .Iadd.has .Iaddend.contacted .Iadd.a .Iaddend.predetermined .Iadd.number .Iaddend.of the call records.

.[.3. The system of claim 1 wherein the distribution module comprises a server that supports TCP/IP, the distribution module transferring the queues with TCP/IP..].

.[.4. The system of claim 1 wherein the dialing devices comprise predictive dialers..].

.[.5. The system of claim 1 wherein the distribution module is further operable to monitor the dialing devices to determine contact results associated with the call records and to transfer additional call records to the queues based at least in part on the contact results..].

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the .[.distribution module.]. .Iadd.server .Iaddend.is further .[.operable.]. .Iadd.configured .Iaddend.to redistribute .Iadd.one of the respective subsets of the plurality of .Iaddend.call records between the .Iadd.plural .Iaddend.queues based at least in part .[.upon.]. .Iadd.on the .Iaddend.contact .[.attempt.]. results associated with the .Iadd.one of the respective subsets of the plurality of .Iaddend.call records .[.at the.]. .Iadd.of the respective one of the plurality of .Iaddend.dialing devices.

.[.7. The system of claim 1 further comprising a scheduling module interfaced with the distribution module, the scheduling module operable to schedule call records for ordered contact attempts by the dialing devices according to one or more factors..].

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the .[.distribution module manages.]. .Iadd.server is configured to manage the plurality of .Iaddend.call records in plural pools, the .[.distribution module.]. .Iadd.server .Iaddend.further .[.operable.]. .Iadd.configured .Iaddend.to transfer .Iadd.a first subset of the plurality of .Iaddend.call records to a .Iadd.first .Iaddend.queue .Iadd.of the plural queues .Iaddend.from a first pool and .[.transfers.]. .Iadd.transfer a second subset of the plurality of .Iaddend.call records to the .Iadd.first .Iaddend.queue from a second pool when the .Iadd.first subset of the plurality of .Iaddend.call records in the first pool are depleted.

9. A method for distributing outbound telephone calls, the method comprising: organizing call records at a .[.distribution module.]. .Iadd.server .Iaddend.into a plurality of queues .Iadd.associated with a single campaign, wherein each of the plurality of queues is associated with a respective subset of the call records.Iaddend.; distributing each .[.queue.]. .Iadd.of the plurality of queues .Iaddend.to .Iadd.a respective .Iaddend.one of a plurality of dialing devices; .[.attempting.]. .Iadd.originating .Iaddend.outbound telephone calls .[.with.]. .Iadd.using the respective subset of .Iaddend.the call records of .Iadd.one of .Iaddend.the .[.queue.]. .Iadd.plurality of queues .Iaddend.at .[.each dialing device.]. .Iadd.the respective one of the plurality of dialing devices.Iaddend.; .[.and.]. providing each .Iadd.of the .Iaddend.outbound telephone .[.call.]. .Iadd.calls .Iaddend.to one of plural agents associated with .[.each dialing device.]. .Iadd.the respective one of the plurality of dialing devices; communicating call attempt results from the respective one of the plurality of dialing devices to the server; monitoring the call attempt results comprising at least one of right party contacts, wrong party contacts, no answers, and detection of answering machines by the server of the outbound telephone calls at the respective one of the plurality of dialing devices; and automatically distributing an additional subset of the call records by the server to the one of the plurality of queues of the respective one of the plurality of dialing devices based on at least one of the right party contacts, the wrong party contacts, the no answers, and the detection of answering machines.Iaddend..

.[.10. The method of claim 9 further comprising: monitoring the results of outbound telephone calls at each dialing device; communicating the results to the distribution module; and distributing additional call records to the queues based in part on the results..].

11. The method of claim 9 wherein organizing .Iadd.the .Iaddend.call records at the .[.distribution module.]. .Iadd.server .Iaddend.further comprises: determining a priority between the call records based on one or more factors; and ordering the call records in .Iadd.the plurality of .Iaddend.queues based on .[.the.]. priority.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the priority is based on .[.the.]. .Iadd.a .Iaddend.likelihood of a successful contact for .[.the.]. .Iadd.a respective .Iaddend.call record.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein the priority is based on a location associated with each .[.call record.]. .Iadd.of the call records.Iaddend..

14. The method of claim 11 further comprising: uploading a plurality of .Iadd.the .Iaddend.call attempt results from the .Iadd.one of the plurality of .Iaddend.dialing devices to the .[.distribution module.]. .Iadd.server.Iaddend.; and analyzing the call attempt results to determine .[.the.]. .Iadd.a .Iaddend.number of call records remaining to be called in the .Iadd.one of the plurality of .Iaddend.queues and a depletion rate at which the .Iadd.respective one of the plurality of .Iaddend.dialing devices .[.call the.]. .Iadd.is calling .Iaddend.call records in the .Iadd.one of the plurality of .Iaddend.queues.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising: determining a number of additional call records for .[.each queues.]. .Iadd.the one of the plurality of queues of the respective one of the plurality of dialing devices .Iaddend.based upon the number of call records remaining to be called and the depletion rate; and distributing the determined number of additional call records to .[.each queue.]. .Iadd.the one of the plurality of queues of the respective one of the plurality of dialing devices.Iaddend..

16. The method of claim .[.11.]. .Iadd.9 .Iaddend.further comprising redistributing the call records between .[.the queues.]. .Iadd.a first queue associated with a first one of the plurality of dialing devices and a second queue associated with a second one of the plurality of dialing devices .Iaddend.based on the call attempt results associated with .[.each dialing device.]. .Iadd.the first one of the plurality of dialing devices and the second one of the plurality of dialing devices.Iaddend..

.[.17. The method of claim 11 wherein distributing the queues to a plurality of dialing devices comprises: locking the call records to each dialing device; creating a plurality of contingency files specific for each dialing device; and updating the contingency files with call attempt results..].

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) For a more complete understanding of the present invention and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like reference numbers indicate like features, and wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of plural dialing devices interfaced with a distribution module;

(3) FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of another embodiment of the present invention employing two distribution modules;

(4) FIG. 3 depicts a flow diagram of a method for distribution outbound telephone calls; and

(5) FIGS. 4a and 4b illustrate a flow diagram for the population of the pools and queues with call records.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(6) Preferred embodiments of the present invention are illustrated in the figures, like numeral being used to refer like and corresponding parts of the various drawings.

(7) Under previous systems and methods for distributing outbound telephone calls, the redistribution of call records among the dialing devices or the changing of the call order of the call records required the shutting down of the dialing devices or starting a new job on the dialing device. The present invention allows the management of call records across one or more than one dialing device which allows for the leveraging of resources across multiple dialing devices. The enterprise management allows for dynamically reindexing or changing the order of the call records on an as-needed basis, changing the composition of call records within the pools, and redistribution of unsuccessful call attempts without having to shut down the dialing devices or start a new job on the dialing device.

(8) FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram for an outbound distribution system 100 for distributing outbound telephone calls. A distribution module 102 interfaces with a first call center 104a and a second call center 104n. .Iadd.For simplicity, reference is made hereafter to call center 104 in a generic sense to refer to any instance of a call center, 104a-104n. .Iaddend.System 100 allows call centers 104a and 104n to operate as a single group of resources rather than two decentralized units, with distribution module 102 controlling the strategy, workload, and calling efforts for call centers 104 from a single, central location. In alternative embodiments, distribution module 102 interfaces with multiple dialing devices at one or more call centers, or one dialing device located in one call center.

(9) Call centers 104 are geographically distributed, each having one or more dialing devices that place telephone calls using information in the call records. Distribution module 102 operates on a SOLARIS, Linux, or an any other appropriate operating system server and communicates with call centers 104 via standardized communications links such as Ethernet, the Internet with protocols such as FTP, CORBA, API, and sockets over TCP/IP, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), or any other appropriate communication link.

(10) Call centers 104 each have one or more dialing devices .[.108.]. .Iadd.108a-108n.Iaddend.. .Iadd.For simplicity, reference is made hereafter to dialing devices 108 in a generic sense to refer to any instance of a dialing device 108a-108n. .Iaddend.Dialing devices 108 are predictive dialers such as the MOSAIX PDS manufactured by Avaya Incorporated or other appropriate predictive dialers. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, interfaced to dialing device 108a in call center 104a are three agents 110a, 110b, and 110c with dialing device 108n of call center 104n also having three agents 110d, 110e, and 110f interfaced to it. .Iadd.For simplicity, reference is made hereafter to agents 110 in a generic sense to refer in any instance 110a-110f of an agent. .Iaddend.Agents 110 are workstations where operators or agents speak to the individuals whose telephone numbers are called by dialing devices 108.

(11) Dialing device 108 dials telephone numbers extracted front the call records. If an individual answers the telephone, dialing device 108 transfers the telephone call to one of agents 110 so that the agent can speak with the individual. Dialing devices 108 therefore improve telephone calling efficiency by dialing the telephone number and transferring the call to an agent only if an individual answers the telephone.

(12) System 100 functions by first having distribution module 102 acquire the call records that dialing devices 108 will call. There are several different ways that distribution module 102 acquires the call records.

(13) For instance, host 112, which is associated with dialing devices 108, stores raw call records. The raw call records contain information including telephone number, account number, individual name and address, and any other appropriate personal information. For example, a raw call record for Joe Smith includes Joe Smith's telephone number, mailing address, account status, account number, account passwords, gender, marital status, number of children, employment status, and yearly income.

(14) Host 112 transfers the raw call records for that day along path 114a to call center 104a and dialing device 108a and along path 114b to call center 104n and dialing device 108n. Distribution module 102 contacts dialing device 108a within call center 104a via path 116a and dialing device 108n within call center 104n via path 116b. Distribution module 102 downloads from dialing devices 108 to call record database 118 the call records. The call records may contain some but not all of the information from the raw call records. Downloading less than all of the information from the raw call records saves bandwidth and allows for efficient operation of distribution module 102 because it handles smaller amounts of data. For instance, distribution module 102 downloads as the call record an individual's name, telephone number, and account number. So the call record for Joe Smith contains Joe Smith's name, his telephone number, and account number.

(15) In an alternative embodiment, host 112 stores the raw call records. Instead of transferring the raw call records to dialing devices 108, distribution module 102 downloads the call records from host 112 to call record database 118 via path 120.

(16) Alternatively, dialing devices 108 store the raw call records. Therefore, distribution module 102 contacts call center 104a and dialing device 108a via path 116a and call center 104n and dialing device 108n via path 116b to download the call records to call record database 118.

(17) Scheduling module 122 operates to develop and provide optimal calling strategies for the call records including resource optimization, automated statistical modeling and flexible strategy management. For instance, one such scheduling module 122 is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,802,161, entitled Method and System for Optimized Scheduling issued Sep. 1, 1998, and is hereby incorporated by reference.

(18) The integration of scheduling module 122 is not required for the operation of distribution module 102 but it affects how distribution module 102 downloads the call records and what information is contained in the call records. For instance, host 112 transfers the raw call records to call center 104a and dialing device 108a via path 114a and call center 104n and dialing device 108n via path 114b. Scheduling module 122 downloads from dialing device 108a in call center 104a via path 124a and from dialing device 108n in call center 104n via path 124b the raw call records. Scheduling module 122 develops call schedules for the raw call records. Distribution module 102 downloads the call records including the call schedule from scheduling module 122 via path 124c and stores the call records in call record database 118.

(19) Alternative embodiments also employ scheduling module 122 in the delivery of call records to distribution module 102. Scheduling module 122 downloads the raw call records from host 112 via path 126. As before, scheduling module 122 adds call schedules to the raw call records before distribution module 102 downloads the call records from scheduling module 122 via path 124c to call record database 118.

(20) Once distribution module 102 stores the call records in call record database 118, distribution module 102 organizes and transfers the call records from call record database 118 to pools .[.128.]. .Iadd.128a, 128b, and/or 128c.Iaddend., which are interfaced with distribution module 102. .Iadd.For simplicity, reference is made hereafter to pool 128 in a generic sense to refer to any instance of a pool 128a-128c. .Iaddend.The pools are sets of callable call records specified by distribution module 102. Each pool 128 represents a specific and ordered group of call records. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, there are three pools 128a, 128b, and 128c. In alternative embodiments there can be more than three or less than three pools.

(21) Distribution module 102 then transfers less than all of the call records from pools 128 to queues .[.130.]. .Iadd.130a, 130b, 130c, and 130d.Iaddend.. .Iadd.For simplicity, reference is made hereafter to queue 130 in a generic sense to refer to any instance of a queue 130a-130d. .Iaddend.Interfaced with pools 128 are queues 130a, 130b, 130c, and 130d. A queue is a set of rules for selecting call records from pools having the necessary and sufficient information describing the exact method of transferring call records to dialing devices 108 and any call records assigned to but not yet transferred to dialing devices 108 for dialing devices 108 to call. Distribution module 102 attaches each queue 130 to a particular dialing device 108 and monitors each dialing device. As necessary, distribution module 102 transfers call records from pools 128 in accordance with the configuration of queues 130 which includes selection rules, time of day, time of week, number of calls completed, and number of call records sent. Queues 130 then transfer the call records to their assigned dialing devices 108. For instance, distribution module 102 transfers call records according to the configuration of queues 130a and 130b to dialing device 108a of call center 104a and according to the configuration of queues 130c and 130d to dialing device 108n of call center 104n.

(22) In addition, each queue 130 is associated with a single campaign for the dialing device to which it is assigned. A campaign is an outbound job calling on dialing device 108 that can receive additional call records for calling while the outbound calling job is active. Normally, a campaign on dialing device 108 continues to run until manually stopped.

(23) Pools 128 can satisfy transfer requests for call records for one or more than one queue 130. For example, pool 128a transfers call records to queue 130a, pool 128b transfers call records to queues 130b and 130c, and pool 128c transfers call records to queue 130d. In addition, distribution module 102 can change the queues which request call records from pools 128 throughout the day and in the middle of outbound calling campaigns. For instance, if dialing device 108n located in call center 104n calls all the call records in pool 128c, then distribution module 102 can request that pools 128a and 128b transfer call records to queue 130d.

(24) Distribution module 102 transfers the call records to pools 128, transfers less than all of the call records from pools 128 to queues 130, and transfers queues 130 to dialing devices 108 before dialing devices 108 begin their daily calling routines. At the beginning of the day, distribution module 102 transfers enough call records from pools 128 to queues 130 to allow for dialing devices 108 to place calls for fifteen, thirty, sixty minutes, or an appropriate amount of time to place calls. Distribution module 102 monitors the calls placed by dialing devices 108 as well as the number of call records remaining to be called to determine how busy dialing devices 108 are and when and how many additional call records to transfer from pools 128 to queues 130. The monitoring of queues 130 and the transferring of additional call records from pools 128 to queues 130 allows for real-time movement of call records from distribution module 102 to dialing devices 108 throughout the day. For instance, as soon as dialing device 108a is about to finish calling the call records in the campaign assigned to queue 130a, distribution module 102 transfers additional call records from pool 128a to queue 130a so that dialing device 108a maintains a steady and level flow of work.

(25) Dialing devices 108 also track the call attempt results of every call placed by dialing devices 108. The call attempt results include whether or not a call resulted in a right party contact, a wrong party contact, no answer, or an answering machine. For example, the goal of a call record for Joe Smith is to talk with Joe Smith. If agent 110 speaks with Joe Smith, that is a right party contact and a successful call attempt result. If Joe's babysitter answers the phone and Joe is not home, that is a wrong party contact and an unsuccessful call attempt result. If no one answers the phone or an answering machine answers the phone, that is an unsuccessful call attempt result since the desired party was not contacted. Therefore throughout the day, distribution module 102 queries dialing devices 108 for call attempt results and uploads the call attempts results. If a call attempt result is unsuccessful, then distribution module 102 updates the call record in pools 128 so that a dialing device 108 may call the call record again at a later time in the day.

(26) An advantage to system 100 is that distribution module 102 controls the transfer of the call records which results in a level work flow for dialing devices 108. To enable better work flow control, queues 130 include selection rules that determine how distribution module 102 transfers call records from pools 128 to queues 130. The selection rules include priority rules and percentage rules which can be modified on an as needed basis.

(27) Priority rules result in distribution module 102 transferring call records from pools 128 to queues 130 based upon an assigned priority for each pool 128. For example, queue 130a receives call records from pools 128a and 128b with pool 128a having priority over pool 128b. Queue 130b receives call records from pools 128a and 128b with pool 128b having priority over pool 128a. Assume that pool 128a arrives at 8:00 AM while pool 128b arrives at 9:00 AM. Initially, both queues 130a and 130b receive call records from pool 128a. At 9:00 AM when pool 128b arrives, queue 130a continues to receive call records from pool 128a while queue 130b receives call records is 15 from pool 128b.

(28) Percentage rules result in distribution module 102 simultaneously transferring call records from pools 128 to queues 130. For example, queue 130c has a percentage configuration with pools 128b and 128c and queue 130d has a percentage configuration with pools 128b and 128c. In this configuration, queue 130c and 130d receive call records simultaneously from pools 128b and 128c. With pool 128b arriving at 8:00 AM and pool 128c arriving at 9:00 AM, at 8:00 AM both queues 130c and 130d receive call records from pool 128b. At 9:00 AM, queues 130c and 130d alternatively receive call records from pools 128b and 128c. The percentages are variable for instance so that queue 130c receives 80% of its call records from pool 128b and 20% of its call records from pool 128c while queue 130d receives 60% of its call records from pool 128b and 40% of its call records from pool 128c.

(29) The selection rules can also incorporate pool quotas which are limits set on each pool controlling a maximum activity level such as number of records transferred, number of successful call attempts, and other appropriate indicators of call record activity. When distribution module 102 transfers call records to pools 128, distribution module 102 can also set quotas on how many call records dialing devices 108 will call from pools 128. In the percentage rule example above, distribution module 102 can place a quota on pool 128b. When dialing devices 108 satisfy the quota for pool 128b, queues 130c and 130d no longer receive call records from pool 128b and only receive call records from pool 128c.

(30) The selection rules can also be a combination of the percentage rules and the priority rules. For example, queue 130b receives call records from all three pools 128a, 128b, and 128c. Queue 130b receives call records from pool 128b until dialing device 108a calls all the call records in pool 128b. At that time, queue 130b then alternately receives call records from pools 128a and 128c. As with the percentage rules above, queue 130b can receive call records from pools 128a and 128c in any percentage breakdown. Therefore, pool 128b has priority over pools 128a and 128c while pools 128a and 128c transfer call records using percentage rules.

(31) In addition, these selection rules allow for skills-based routing between pools 128. For example, distribution module 102 allows pool 128a to initially transfer call records to queue 130a and pool 128c to initially transfer call records to queue 130d. If pool 128c becomes depleted and has no more call records to transfer to queue 130d, then pool 128a can begin transferring call records to both queues 130a and 130d. This allows distribution module 102 to transfer call records for easy to moderate difficulty customers to the best agents while the less skilled agents work the more difficult customers. And once the easy to moderate difficulty customers call records are depleted, the best agents can begin working the more difficult customer call records.

(32) In case of a communication, dialing device, or call center outage, system 100 employs contingency modules 132 for each dialing device 108. Contingency modules 132 are associated with dialing devices 108. Contingency modules 132 secure the call records within their respective dialing devices 108 in case of an outage. Before distribution module 102 transfers the call records to pools 128, distribution module 102 creates call record accounts for dialing devices 108, locks the call record accounts to dialing devices 108, creates a contingency download file, and stores the contingency download file in contingency modules 132. Distribution module 102 updates the contingency download file with call attempt results which prevents dialing devices 108 from calling call records already successfully called.

(33) Users of system 100 control the functionality of distribution module 102 through a user interface. The user interface is shown as online interface 134 in FIG. 1 but can be any appropriate type of user interface. Online interface 134 is a graphical user, platform-independent, password-protected World Wide Web (WWW) browser-based interface. Users use online interface 134 to control the settings for distribution module 102 including application of the selection rules, number of pools, and number of call records to initially transfer to the queues, generate reports, and create and modify enterprise parameters. Users access online interface 134 by using browser 136 to access Internet 138 to reach a specific web address. Once at the specific web address, the users enter the appropriate passwords to gain access to online interface 134.

(34) Although the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 contains more than one dialing device, in alternative embodiments distribution module 102 interfaces with a single dialing device. A single dialing device interfacing with distribution module 102 allows for variable control over similar lists of call records. For instance, call records may be divided into geographies such as states or time zones. Calling can be stopped automatically by distribution module 102 when a quota is reached for a particular geography. Distribution module 102 presents the similar lists of call records for different geographies as different pools but the similar lists of call records for different geographies would represent one calling job within the single dialing device.

(35) FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of system 150 employing two distribution modules in an alternative embodiment of the present invention. System 100 as shown in FIG. 2 is shown with less detail than in FIG. 1.

(36) System 150 employs two distribution modules 102 and 152. Distribution module 152 is associated with two call centers 154 and 156. Call centers 154 and 156 each have one dialing device 158. Distribution module 152 provides the same functionality to call centers 154 and 156 that distribution module 102 provides to call centers 104 as described above in the discussion regarding FIG. 1.

(37) Distribution module 152 provides redundancy and prevents distribution module 102 from being overburdened by too many dialing devices. Distribution module 102 functions effectively with more than one dialing device interfaced with it but performance and efficiency suffers when too many dialing devices are attached. Therefore, additional distribution module 152 allows for both it and distribution module 102 to achieve optimal performance and efficiency when adding additional call centers 154 and 156 with additional dialing devices 158.

(38) In system 150, distribution modules 102 and 152 are in communication with each other including communicating which call records are in the pools and the call attempt results. Distribution modules 102 and 152 transfer call records and call attempt results between themselves just as distribution module 102 transfers call records and call attempt results between dialing devices 108. Therefore, if dialing devices 158 are idle while dialing devices 108 are overburdened, distribution module 102 transfers call records to distribution module 152 for dialing devices 158 to call. In addition, if distribution module 152 experiences an outage, distribution module 102 transfers the high priority calls from distribution module 152 to dialing devices 108 without worry of calling the same call record a second time in the same day when the first call resulted in a right party contact.

(39) Referring now to FIG. 3, a flow diagram depicts a process for distributing outbound call records. The process begins at step 170 with the transfer of call records from host 112, dialing devices 108, or scheduling module 122 to distribution module 102. In step 172, distribution module 102 organizes and arranges the call records into pools 128. Based upon user inputs distribution module 102 assigns queues 130 to specific dialing devices in step 174.

(40) In step 176, distribution module 102 cheeks to see if the selection sides are to be applied to pools 128 and queues 130. If the selection rules are not to be applied, then the process continues in step 178. If selection rules are to be applied, then in step 180 distribution module 102 determines if priority, percentage, or quota rules are applied to pools 128. If priority rules are applied, then in step 182 distribution module 102 applies the priority rules to pools 128 and queues 130 and the process continues on to step 178. If percentage rules are applied, then in step 184 distribution module 102 applies the percentage rules to pools 128 and queues 130 and the process continues in step 178. If the quota rules are applied, then in step 186 distribution module 102 applies the quotas to pools 128 and queues 130 and the process continues to step 178.

(41) Distribution module 102 then delivers enough call records to queues 130 for dialing devices 108 to place telephone calls for fifteen, thirty, sixty minutes, or an appropriate amount of time to place calls in step 178. In step 190, distribution module 102 locks the call records assigned to dialing devices 108 and creates a contingency file specific for each dialing device 108 in step 192.

(42) In step 194, distribution module 102 transfers queues 130 containing the set number of call records to dialing devices 108. Every few minutes, distribution module 102 uploads call record statistics from each queue 130 in step 196. Call record statistics include such information as how many call records remain to be called and the rate at which dialing devices 108 are depleting the call records in queues 130. In addition to uploading call record statistics, in step 198 distribution module 102 also uploads call attempt results. Call attempt results include whether a right party contact or wrong party contact was made or whether an answering machine was reached when dialing devices 108 place a telephone call.

(43) In step 202 distribution module 102 updates the contingency file with the call attempt results specific for dialing devices 108. In step 204, distribution module 102 uses the call record statistics gathered in step 196 to analyze the number of call records remaining to be called and the depletion rate of the call records within queues 130. Based upon the call attempt results, distribution module 102 represents to pools 128 call records where the first attempt to make a right party contact was unsuccessful so that the call record can be called later in the day in step 206. In addition, the call record can be made unavailable for the remainder of the day if a right party contact was made.

(44) Based upon the call record statistics, distribution module 102 determines in step 208 if more call records need to be sent from pools 128 to queues 130. If more call records are needed, then in step 210 distribution module 102 sends additional call records from pools 128 to queues 130 and the process repeats beginning with step 176 until manually stopped. But if distribution module 102 determines that no additional call records need to be sent from pools 128 to queues 130 in step 208, then the process repeats beginning with step 196 until manually stopped or until there are no call records remaining to be called.

(45) FIGS. 4a and 4b illustrate a flow diagram for the population of pools 128 and queues 130 with call records. The call records in FIGS. 4a and 4b include scheduling information provided by scheduling module 122.

(46) Referring to FIG. 4a, In step 222 the call records pass through scheduling module 122 from either dialing devices 108 or host 112. Scheduling module 122 adds call scheduling information to each call record as it passes through it. In step 224, scheduling module 122 transfers the call records containing call scheduling information to call record database 118 within distribution module 102. Distribution module 102 then arranges the call records into pools 128 in step 226. When distribution module 102 places the call records into pools 128, distribution module 102 examines each call record to determine how to extract the scheduling information, account number and telephone number from the call record. In addition, distribution module 102 flags any call records where the scheduling information or telephone number is stripped from the end of the call record before placing it in the pools 128.

(47) In step 228, distribution module 102 splits the call records into a plurality of pools 128. Each pool 128 holds the call record as a data string and the call records are in the same format within pools 128. In addition, distribution module 102 arranges the call records within pools 128 so that each call record is selectable by its account number.

(48) The call scheduling information provided by scheduling module 122 allows for an optimum order to call the call records. Using the call scheduling information, distribution module 102 creates hourly indices for pools 128 in step 230. The hourly indices allow for pools 128 to take advantage of the fact that the call order and call priority of each call record changes based upon the time of day. For example, a call record might be scheduled to be the first call at 8:00 AM and if not successfully called at 8:00 AM then rescheduled to be the tenth call made at 6:00 PM. There is a hourly index created for each hour of the calling day and the hourly indices are shown in step 232. Distribution module 102 creates an index for each hour for each pool 128.

(49) In addition to the hourly indices, distribution module 102 also creates an immediate index and an overflow index. The immediate index contains call records that are always the first to be called at the beginning of every hourly index. The call records within the immediate index allow real time call record insertion based upon previous call attempts and are often call records that resulted in no contact when called the first time. Call records contained in the overflow index are call records which were not scheduled to be called or call records that do not have call scheduling information.

(50) Once the call records are arranged into pools 128 and the hourly indices are created, the process of transferring the call records from pools 128 to queues 130 begins. In step 234, distribution module 102 selects the call records contained in the immediate index. Distribution module 102 also removes any call records that are unavailable to be called and marks the call records as unavailable in step 236. In step 238, distribution module 102 determines if it is ready to transfer the call records from pools 128 to queues 130 for this hour and if there are a sufficient number of call records to be transferred from the immediate index to allow for fifteen, thirty, sixty minutes, or an appropriate amount of time for calling. If there are sufficient call records, then in step 239, distribution module 102 transfers the call records from the pool immediate index to queues 130.

(51) If there are not enough call records in the immediate index, then in step 240 distribution module 102 selects call records from the appropriate hourly index. These additional call records in combination with call records from the immediate index will allow for fifteen, thirty, sixty minutes, or an appropriate amount of time for calling. In step 242, distribution module 102 removes any call records unavailable to be called and marks the call records as unavailable. Distribution module 102 then transfers the call records from the immediate index and the appropriate hourly index to queues 130 in step 239.

(52) In step 244, distribution module 102 transfers queues 130 containing the call records to dialing devices 108. After queues 130 are transferred to dialing devices 108, in step 246 dialing devices 108 begin calling the call records.

(53) Referring to FIG. 4b, as dialing devices 108 call the call records, distribution module 102 monitors dialing devices 108 and queues 130 for when it is time to send the next hourly index of call records from pools 128 to queues 130 in step 248. In determining when to send the next hourly index, distribution module 102 cannot start morning hour queues before the actual hour of the hourly index and must stop evening hour queues before the hourly index hour expires. For instance, the pool morning hourly index for 10:00 AM cannot be sent from pools 128 to queues 130 before 10:00 AM and the evening hourly index for 7:00 PM must stop calling at 8:00 PM. This is in part to due to telemarketing regulations that regulate the times of day that telemarketing calls may be placed.

(54) If in step 248 it is time for the next hourly index, then in step 250 distribution module 102 selects the next hourly index to be called and begins the process of transferring the call records from the appropriate hourly index to queues 130. The process of selecting the next hourly index repeats steps 234 through 244 by first taking call records from the immediate index and adding call records from the appropriate hourly index as explained above.

(55) If in step 248 it is not time for the next hour, then distribution module 102 determines queue depth and the time to go in step 252. Queue depth is the amount of call records remaining to be called in the queue while time to go is the amount of time remaining in the hour for the hourly index. In step 254 if the depth is not too low and the time to go is not too short so that there are a sufficient amount of call records to call for the remaining time left in the hour, then additional call records are not needed in queue 130. So in step 256, the call attempt results regarding a right or wrong party contact are uploaded from dialing devices 108 and sent back to distribution module 102 in step 258. The process then returns to step 248 to determine if it is time for the next hour.

(56) If in step 254 distribution module 102 determines that the depth is too low or the time to go is too short, then in step 260 distribution module 102 calculates the number of call records needed to finish out the hour for the hourly index. In step 262, distribution module 102 selects additional call records to call by repeating steps 234 through 239 above and transferring the call records from the pools 128 to queues 130 in step 264 so that dialing devices 108 do not sit idle but finish out the hour placing telephone calls. The process then returns to step 248 to determine if it is time for the next hour.

(57) Although the present invention has been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitution, and alterations can be made hereto without parting from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.