An automated call distribution system, commonly known as automatic call distributor (ACD), is a

telephony Telephony ( ) is the field of technology involving the development, application, and deployment of telecommunication services for the purpose of electronic transmission of voice, fax, or data, between distant parties. The history of telephony is i ...

device that answers and distributes incoming calls to a specific group of terminals or agents within an organization. ACDs direct calls based on parameters that may include the caller's telephone number, the number they dialed, the time of day or a response to an automated voice prompt. Advanced ACD systems may use digital technologies such as

Computer telephony integration Computer telephony integration, also called computer–telephone integration or CTI, is a common name for any technology that allows interactions on a telephone and a computer to be coordinated. The term is predominantly used to describe desktop ...

(CTI),

computer-supported telecommunications applications Computer-supported telecommunications applications (CSTA) is an abstraction layer for telecommunications applications. It is independent of underlying protocols. It has a telephone device model that enables CTI applications to work with a wide ran ...

(CSTA) or

IVR Interactive voice response (IVR) is a technology that allows telephone users to interact with a computer-operated telephone system through the use of voice and DTMF tones input with a keypad. In telecommunications, IVR allows customers to interac ...

as input to determine the route to a person or voice announcement that will serve the caller. Experts claim that "the invention of ACD technology made the concept of a

call centre A call centre ( Commonwealth spelling) or call center (American spelling; see spelling differences) is a managed capability that can be centralised or remote that is used for receiving or transmitting a large volume of enquiries by telephone ...

possible."

Background

Private Branch Exchange A business telephone system is a multiline telephone system typically used in business environments, encompassing systems ranging in technology from the key telephone system (KTS) to the private branch exchange (PBX). A business telephone syst ...

(PBX) is a

telephone exchange telephone exchange, telephone switch, or central office is a telecommunications system used in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or in large enterprises. It interconnects telephone subscriber lines or virtual circuits of digital syste ...

device that acts as a switchboard to route phone calls within an organisation. This technology developed into Automated Call Distribution systems using computer technology to automatically connect incoming calls to recipients based on programmable logic. Although ACDs appeared in the 1950s, one of the first large and separate ACDs was a modified

5XB switch The Number Five Crossbar Switching System (5XB switch) is a telephone switch for telephone exchanges designed by Bell Labs and manufactured by Western Electric starting in 1947. It was used in the Bell System principally as a Class 5 telephone swi ...

used by the

New York Telephone Company The New York Telephone Company (NYTel) was organized in 1896, taking over the New York City operations of the American Bell Telephone Company. Predecessor companies The Telephone Company of New York was formed under franchise in 1876. The princ ...

in the early 1970s to distribute calls among hundreds of

4-1-1 4-1-1 is a telephone number for local directory assistance in Canada and the United States. Until the early 1980s, 4-1-1 and the related 1-1-3 number were free to call in most states. In the United States, the service is common known as “infor ...

information operators. Robert Hirvela developed and received a patent for technology that was used to create the Rockwell Galaxy Automatic Call Distributor, which was used by

Continental Airlines Continental Airlines, simply known as Continental, was a major United States airline founded in 1934 and eventually headquartered in Houston, Texas. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers. Continental started ...

for more than 20 years. Since then, ACDs have integrated incoming call management and voice messaging software into its capabilities.

Application

ACD systems route incoming calls to people according to defined rules that may include, for example, the time of day, the day of the week, the geographic location of the caller and the availability of people to respond. The rules should aim to route the call to a person qualified to address the caller's needs. Routing can use

caller ID Caller identification (Caller ID) is a telephone service, available in analog and digital telephone systems, including voice over IP (VoIP), that transmits a caller's telephone number to the called party's telephone equipment when the call i ...

automatic number identification Automatic number identification (ANI) is a feature of a telecommunications network for automatically determining the origination telephone number on toll calls for billing purposes. Automatic number identification was originally created by the A ...

interactive voice response Interactive voice response (IVR) is a technology that allows telephone users to interact with a computer-operated telephone system through the use of voice and DTMF tones input with a keypad. In telecommunications, IVR allows customers to interac ...

or dialed number identification services to determine how calls are handled. ACD systems are often found in offices that handle large volumes of incoming phone calls from callers who have no need to talk to a specific person, but require assistance from any of multiple persons (e.g., customer service representatives or emergency services dispatch centers) at the earliest opportunity. There are several contact routing strategies that can be set up within an algorithm based on a company's needs.

Skills-based routing Skills-based routing (SBR), or skills-based call routing, is a call-assignment strategy used in call centres to assign incoming calls to the most suitable agent, instead of simply choosing the next available agent. It is an enhancement to the automa ...

is determined by an operator's knowledge to handle a caller's inquiry. Virtual contact centers can also be used to aggregate the skill sets of agents to help multiple vendors, where all real-time and statistical information can be shared amongst the contact center sites. An additional function for these external routing applications is to enable

(CTI), which improves efficiency for call center agents by matching incoming phone calls with relevant data via

screen pop Screen pop is a call centre term that refers to the feature of a computer telephony integration (CTI) which automatically displays customer information via a window or dialog box on an agent's computer upon answering a customer's call. For ''inb ...

Distribution methods

Methods for distributing incoming calls from a queue include *Linear Call Distribution – Calls are distributed in order, starting at the beginning each time *Circular/Rotary Call Distribution – Calls are distributed in order, starting with the next in order *Uniform Call Distribution – Calls are distributed uniformly, starting with the person who has handled the fewest calls *Simultaneous Call Distribution – Calls are presented to all available extensions simultaneously *Weighted Call Distribution – Calls are distributed according to a configurable weighting, such as differing skill sets within customer service representatives

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Automatic Call Distributor Telephone exchanges Computer telephony integration Telephony equipment

Background

Application

Distribution methods

See also

References