US 7,023,979 · Granted 2006-04-04

The Smart Call Router That Matches You With the Right Agent

Imagine a phone system that figures out what your problem is, then instantly sends you to the employee best equipped to help—instead of bouncing you around randomly. This patent covers the software logic that makes that instant matching happen by scoring which agent has the right skills for your specific call.

Curated and verified by the IsItPatented Editorial team

The plain-English version

What it protects

The claim covers a system that receives information about an incoming call (like whether it's a billing question or a technical issue), consults a database of which skills matter for that type of call, checks how skilled each available agent is in those areas, calculates the best match, and automatically routes the call there. What's protected is both the method of doing that matching and the combination of input, databases, and processor logic working together to route calls intelligently.

Why it matters

Before smart routing, companies wasted time and money by sending customers to the wrong department or agent, then transferring them again. This patent automates that decision-making, reducing wait times and improving first-contact resolution. For large call centers handling thousands of daily calls, even small efficiency gains multiply across the business, making it a foundational technology for modern customer service operations.

Real-world use

When you call a bank or tech support line and your call gets handled by someone who actually knows your issue within seconds of you describing it, that's often powered by an intelligent routing system like this one.

Original USPTO abstract

A communications management system comprising an input for receiving a communications classification; a database of skill weights with respect to the communications classification; a database of agent skill scores; and a processor, for computing, with respect to the received communication classification, an optimum agent selection, the processor directly controlling a routing of the information representing the received call.

Patent details

Publication number: US 7,023,979
Filing date: 2003-03-07
Grant date: 2006-04-04
Assignee: Wai Wu / Toby Heller / Hoffberg Steven M
Inventor(s): WU WAI, HELLER TOBY, HOFFBERG STEVEN M.
CPC class: H04M3/5233

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