JP2009080581A - Workflow controller - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To support construction of a proper workflow constructed by user oneself to deal with business. <P>SOLUTION: This workflow controller is a controller for managing-controlling the workflow of the user, and displays a workflow screen 220 in each user terminal. The user advances business processing according to a business procedure indicated on the workflow screen 220. The workflow controller holds sequence information indicating an execution sequence for a plurality of kinds of steps, and operation information indicating a content of each step, as the business procedure to be executed by the user, and screen-displays sequentially the content of each step, according to the sequence information. The workflow controller changes the sequence information, based on an assigned business procedure, when satisfying a condition to be satisfied in changing the execution sequence for each step, when the business procedure is indicated to be changed by the user. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a data processing technique, and more particularly, to a technique for controlling a workflow for work to be processed by a user.

In recent years, with the widespread use of computers, there are cases in which a computer manages a workflow indicating a plurality of business process procedures. The user can reduce simple mistakes such as forgetting matters to be processed by processing the tasks in the order set as the workflow.
JP 2005-134937 A

  Currently, the user proceeds with business processing according to the workflow constructed by the system developer. In other words, the user does not construct the workflow system itself. Therefore, when constructing a system, it is necessary to construct all possible variations of the workflow.

  However, since there are a large number of tasks and there can be various combinations of these tasks, the number of workflow variations assumed is enormous, and the construction of a workflow system takes a lot of cost and time. The present inventor has considered that it is not necessary to prepare a large number of workflow variations in advance if a user who actually performs business can construct an appropriate workflow in a scene where business is actually performed.

  The present invention has been completed based on the above-mentioned attention by the present inventor, and its main purpose is to provide a technique for supporting the construction of an appropriate workflow by the user himself / herself who should process the business.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, a workflow control apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes an order information holding unit that holds order information indicating the execution order of a plurality of types of procedures as a business procedure to be executed by a user, and each procedure. In the operation information holding unit that holds the operation information indicating the contents of the operation, the operation display unit that sequentially displays the operation information of each procedure registered in the order information according to the order information, and the screen display of the operation information. An instruction detection unit that detects a change instruction input by a user for instructing a change in the execution order of procedures, and an order information control unit that changes the order information to a designated execution order when the change instruction input is detected Prepare. The operation information holding unit holds each operation information by associating each procedure with a condition to be satisfied in changing the execution order of each procedure, and the order information control unit stores the designated execution order and condition. Change order information when matching.

  It should be noted that any combination of the above-described constituent elements and a representation of the present invention converted between an apparatus, a method, a system, a program, a recording medium storing the program, and the like are also effective as an aspect of the present invention.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to support the construction of an appropriate workflow by the user himself / herself who should process business.

  Before describing embodiments of the present invention, an outline of the present invention will be described first. In conventional systems, a system developer who builds a system and a user who uses the system are generally separated. In the case of a workflow control system, a system developer first interviews a user about an assumed workflow and builds a workflow system having a plurality of variations based on the results of the hearing. The user has processed the business using any of a plurality of variations constructed by the system developer.

  Currently, there are a large number of tasks managed and controlled by the workflow system, and as a result, there are a large number of assumed workflow variations, that is, a number of combinations of tasks. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing variations of the workflow. In the figure, it is assumed that a workflow combining four jobs from job A to job D is shown, and each job has the following characteristics.

Business A: A business that is executed upon request from a customer.
Business B: A business whose necessity is determined by an operation in the business A, which is executed immediately after the business A.
Business C: A business that is executed upon request from a customer, and is a business different from the business A.
Business D: A business in which necessity is determined according to the contract status of the customer, and is executed at the end of a series of business.

  In the case of the business characteristics described above, there are 15 variations in the workflow that is a combination of four businesses as shown in FIG. Thus, even if there are only four tasks, there are many combinations due to the characteristics of these tasks, and the number of combinations increases as the number of tasks increases. In addition, when a business is determined in a conversation with a customer like an operator of a call center, a new business may occur due to the sudden specification of the customer. In addition, there is a business that should be executed only for a specific customer based on the attribute of the customer that can change dynamically. Accordingly, there are cases where it is difficult to predeterminely determine a workflow in advance, and there are cases where it is not appropriate to proceed with the work according to the routine workflow.

  The embodiment of the present invention proposes a technique for allowing a user who should process a job to construct an appropriate workflow in a scene where the job is actually processed. As a result, it is not necessary to construct a large number of variations of the workflow in advance, and the user can flexibly change the workflow according to the customer-facing situation. Hereinafter, embodiments will be described.

FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram showing the relationship between the call center and the customer.
The call center 300 may be configured as a set of a plurality of call centers that are geographically distributed. Here, a call center corresponding to telephone securities transactions in a securities company will be described as an example.

  In the call center 300, operator phones 202a, 202b, and 202c (hereinafter simply referred to as “operator phone 202”) are installed for each operator. Each operator telephone 202 is a general telephone connected to an analog telephone network 204. The customer calls the operator telephone 202 via customer telephones 206 a, 206 b, 206 c (hereinafter simply referred to as “customer telephone 206”) connected to the telephone network 204. The customer phone 206 is also a general phone such as a mobile phone or a fixed phone. The operator accepts a call from the customer on the operator telephone 202 he / she is in charge of, and executes an order from the customer as a proxy. Hereinafter, a series of operations from receiving a call from a customer, responding to an order from the customer, and ending the telephone call will be referred to as a “customer response operation”.

  In the call center 300, the workflow control apparatus 100 and operator terminals 200 a, 200 b, and 200 c (hereinafter simply referred to as “operator terminal 200”) are connected via a LAN (Local Area Network) 208. Each operator terminal 200 is a general web terminal installed for each operator. An operator telephone 202 and an operator terminal 200 are assigned to each operator.

  A business system 210 is connected to the LAN 208. The business system 210 is a system for processing stock orders and settlements. The operator confirms the order contents of the customer from the conversation with the customer, accesses the business system 210 via the operator terminal 200, and places an order for the customer, thereby realizing a customer service.

  Note that the operator terminal 200 and the operator telephone 202 may be integrally formed. For example, the operator may converse with the customer via an IP (Internet Protocol) phone. In this case, the operator terminal 200 may include the function of the operator telephone 202.

  The workflow control apparatus 100 displays a workflow screen on the operator terminal 200 in order to show the operator the business procedure in the customer-facing business. In the present embodiment, the workflow control apparatus 100 displays a workflow screen as a web page. Each operator performs customer service according to the business procedure shown on the workflow screen. The business data such as trading information input by the operator on the workflow screen is once transmitted to the workflow control device 100 and then transmitted from the workflow control device 100 to the business system 210.

  However, the business procedure for customer-facing business in telephone securities trading is usually not definitively defined. For example, the business procedure for a customer who instructs the sale of stocks is different from the business procedure for a customer who instructs the purchase of bonds. Account management fees should be charged for customers whose account management fees have not been paid, but such procedures are not necessary for customers who have paid account management fees. On the other hand, the procedure of “identification” is a procedure that should be executed by any customer in principle, with the exception described later. The workflow control apparatus 100 basically allows the change of the workflow by the operation of the operator, but in order to maintain the consistency of the business, an optimum method corresponding to the customer attribute and the relationship between the business is performed by a method described later. Supports creation and modification of workflow so that it becomes a business procedure.

FIG. 3 is a screen diagram of the workflow screen 220.
The workflow screen 220 is displayed on the operator terminal 200 as a web page provided by the workflow control apparatus 100. The workflow control apparatus 100 can set different business procedures for each operator terminal 200 and can display different workflow screens 220.

  The customer information area 222 shows information about customers. When the operator receives a telephone call from the customer via the operator telephone 202, the operator inputs customer identification information to the operator terminal 200. The operator terminal 200 transmits customer identification information to the workflow control apparatus 100. The workflow control apparatus 100 holds various pieces of information related to customers in association with customer identification information. The workflow control apparatus 100 causes the customer information area 222 to display customer information associated with the received customer identification information. According to the customer information area 222 shown in the figure, this workflow screen 220 is a screen that is displayed in the customer service for the customer “Taro Nonomura (46 years old, male)” with “customer ID: 00001390”. I understand.

  In the case of an IP phone, the operator terminal 200 may automatically specify the customer ID based on the IP address of the utterance source. Further, even with a normal telephone line, customer identification information may be automatically specified based on a caller telephone number. Further, customer authentication by an IVR (Interactive Voice Response) may be performed before the conversation with the operator, and customer identification information may be specified by this customer authentication.

  In the flow display area 224, the business procedure in the customer service business is displayed. A business procedure is indicated by a concatenation of a plurality of “procedures”. “Procedure” here is, for example, various predefined customer-facing items such as “sale of domestic stocks”, “purchase of Japanese government bonds”, and “address change”. Which procedure should be executed in what order is set as “order information”. A business procedure is defined by this order information. The operator can additionally register various procedures in the order information in accordance with customer orders that occur as needed during telephone reception. That is, it is possible to capture a customer request generated during a conversation as part of a business procedure. For example, during a conversation, when a customer requests “I want to buy domestic stocks”, the operator additionally registers a procedure “Purchase of domestic stocks” in the order information. Further, when the customer makes a request to “buy an investment trust later”, a procedure “buy investment trust” is additionally registered in the order information. In the flow display area 224, procedures registered as business procedures are displayed side by side in the order of execution.

  In the case of the figure, it is shown that after responding to the customer's order of “purchasing domestic stocks”, the procedures “sale of domestic stocks” and “withdrawal to the customer's designated account” should be sequentially performed. According to the figure, the procedure of “purchasing domestic stocks” is being handled. In addition, it may be possible to specify a business procedure up to a brand to be ordered. For example, it may be possible to register in the business procedure as procedures such as “purchase of domestic stocks (A brand)” and “purchase of investment trust B”.

  In the procedure “Purchase of domestic stocks” in FIG. 3, there are four procedures (hereinafter referred to as “sub-procedures”) of “selection”, “input”, “confirmation”, and “result”. included. “Select” is a sub-procedure for confirming the target brand and transaction quantity with the customer, “Input” is a sub-procedure for inputting data for placing an order to the business system 210, and “Confirm” is an order after confirming the input contents with the customer again Sub-procedure, “Result” is a sub-procedure that informs the customer of the success or failure of the order. When the procedure of “purchasing domestic stock” is registered in the business procedure, such a predefined sub procedure is also registered. For this reason, it is easy to prevent a human error such as neglecting only the sub-procedure “confirmation” when “purchase of domestic stock” is instructed.

  The front button 226 and the rear button 228 are buttons for changing the procedure to be displayed in the flow display area 224. By clicking the front button 226 and the rear button 228, the operator can confirm the entire business procedure.

  The operation information display area 232 displays the contents of the procedure being handled. In the figure, information for the procedure “purchase domestic stock> confirm” is displayed. The operator clicks the completion button 238 when the customer response is completed for the procedure “purchase domestic stock> confirm”. When the completion button 238 is clicked, information on the next procedure is displayed. In the case of the figure, when the completion button 238 is clicked, information about “selection”, which is the first subprocedure (not shown) of the procedure “sale of domestic stock”, is displayed. Therefore, the operator can proceed with the entire business procedure without fail by sequentially clicking the completion button 238 while dealing with the customer according to the contents displayed in the operation information display area 232.

  When the previous transition button 236 is clicked, information on the procedure set as the previous procedure is displayed. In the case of the figure, when the previous transition button 236 is clicked, “Purchase of domestic stock> Confirm” is displayed. When the next transition button 240 is clicked, information on the procedure set as the next procedure is displayed. In the case of the figure, when the next transition button 240 is clicked, information on “sale of domestic stock> selection” is displayed. However, even if the next procedure is displayed when the next transition button 240 is clicked, that is, the completion button 238 is not clicked, the current procedure “purchase of domestic stock> confirmation” is not completed. .

  The procedure list area 230 is an area for displaying a list of procedures that can be registered as a part of the business procedure. Each procedure is categorized. For example, when a category “account management” is clicked, related procedures such as “transaction history”, “portfolio”, and “stock fee” are displayed in a list.

  The procedure control area 234 is an input area for dynamically changing a business procedure. When any procedure is selected from the procedure list area 230 and the add button 242 is clicked, the selected procedure is additionally registered in the order information as part of the business procedure. For example, when a customer requests “I want you to tell me about stock fees later” during a telephone call, the operator selects the procedure “stock fees” from the procedure list area 230 and clicks the add button 242. At this time, the procedure “stock fee” is additionally registered in the order information. The contents of the business procedure displayed in the flow display area 224 are also updated corresponding to the additional registration.

  When any unprocessed procedure is selected from the flow display area 224 and the cancel button 244 is clicked, the selected procedure is removed from the business procedure. That is, the registration is deleted from the order information. For example, when a customer has instructed to “buy domestic stocks” but re-instructed to cancel the purchase of domestic stocks before actually placing domestic stocks, the operator selects the procedure “buy domestic stocks”. Then, the cancel button 244 is clicked. At this time, the procedure “purchase domestic stock” is deregistered from the order information.

  Furthermore, the operator can change the execution order of procedures by dragging and dropping “procedures” displayed in the flow display area 224. For example, if you drag the procedure “Domestic stock purchase” and bring it behind “Withdrawal processing”, the execution order of the “Domestic stock purchase” procedure will be re-established after the “Withdrawal processing” procedure. Is set.

  The operator can appropriately reflect various requests from the customer generated during the response as a business procedure while responding to the customer according to the procedure contents shown in the operation information display area 232 according to the order information. For this reason, even an operator who is unskilled in business can accurately respond to a request from a customer without omission. Further, by executing a customer-facing business while receiving an instruction from the workflow control device 100 as described above, it is possible to promote the operator's job proficiency.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the workflow control apparatus 100.
Each block shown here can be realized in hardware by an element such as a CPU of a computer or a mechanical device, and in software it is realized by a computer program or the like. Draw functional blocks. Therefore, those skilled in the art will understand that these functional blocks can be realized in various forms by a combination of hardware and software.

The workflow control apparatus 100 includes a user interface processing unit 110, a data processing unit 120, and a data holding unit 130.
The user interface processing unit 110 is in charge of user interface processing with the operator. The user interface processing unit 110 displays the workflow screen 220 on the operator terminal 200.

  More specifically, the user interface processing unit 110 generates an HTML file for the workflow screen 220 and transmits it to the operator terminal 200 so that the web browser installed in the operator terminal 200 displays the workflow screen 220. become. The data processing unit 120 executes various data processing based on data acquired from the user interface processing unit 110, the data holding unit 130, and the business system 210. The data processing unit 120 also serves as an interface between the user interface processing unit 110 and the data holding unit 130. The data holding unit 130 is a storage area for holding various data.

User interface processing unit 110:
The user interface processing unit 110 includes an operation display unit 112 and an instruction detection unit 114. The operation display unit 112 displays a workflow screen 220 on the operator terminal 200 by transmitting a web page to each operator terminal 200. Thereby, the operation display unit 112 indicates to the operator the contents of the business procedure and the procedure to be executed.

  The instruction detection unit 114 receives various instructions from the operator on the workflow screen 220 in FIG. The instruction detection unit 114 includes an addition detection unit 114a, a deletion detection unit 114b, and a change detection unit 114c. When the add button 242 is clicked, the addition detection unit 114a receives an “add command” that specifies a procedure to be added from the operator terminal 200. When the cancel button 244 is clicked, the deletion detection unit 114 b receives a “deletion command” that specifies a procedure to be deleted from the operator terminal 200. When a drag-and-drop operation for changing the procedure order is performed on the flow display area 224, the change detection unit 114c receives a “change command” that specifies the procedure to be changed and the execution order after the change. In addition to this, the instruction detection unit 114 receives various commands corresponding to various inputs of the operator to the workflow screen 220.

Data holding unit 130:
The data holding unit 130 includes an order information holding unit 132, an operation information holding unit 134, and a customer attribute holding unit 136. The order information holding unit 132 holds a procedure to be executed for each customer service and order information indicating the execution order. For example, when the workflow screen 220 of FIG. 3 is displayed, the order information holding unit 132 displays “identity confirmation” → “domestic stock purchase” → “domestic stock sale” → “withdrawal processing” → “final confirmation”. The procedure and execution order are retained. The operation information holding unit 134 holds operation information indicating the contents of each procedure and attribute information associated with each procedure.

FIG. 5A is a data structure diagram of the operation information holding unit 134.
The procedure column 138 records the name of each procedure. The procedures shown in the procedure column 138 are displayed in a list in the procedure list area 230 of FIG. The screen ID column 140 records identification information of screen data associated with each procedure. The screen ID shown in the screen ID column 140 indicates identification information about the web page data displayed in the operation information display area 232 of FIG. For example, if the operator selects “domestic stock purchase” in the flow display area 224 of FIG. 3, the web page with the screen ID “7” associated with the procedure is transmitted to the operator terminal 200 and displayed in the operation information display area 232. Is displayed.

  The customer attribute condition column 142 displays a procedure on the workflow screen 220 and records a “customer attribute condition” related to the customer attribute as a condition that allows the execution order to be changed for each procedure. Changing the execution order means changing the business procedure displayed in the flow display area 224 in FIG. 3. The procedure is added to the order information, the procedure is deleted from the order information, and the context between each procedure is changed. Includes changes. When the customer attribute condition is satisfied, for example, the corresponding procedure can be added to the order information as part of the business procedure.

  According to FIG. 5A, the procedure “Recommend A Fund” satisfies the customer attribute condition when the account balance of the customer is 20 million yen or more. In other words, for customers who have a certain margin in terms of assets, a procedure for recommending A fund can be added to the business procedure, or a procedure for recommending A fund is automatically added as a business procedure. become. On the other hand, the procedure “change address” is a procedure to be executed when requested by a customer, and does not require preconditions related to customer attributes, so no customer attribute condition is specified.

  The order change possibility column 144 records a “change possibility flag” indicating whether or not the execution order of each procedure can be changed. For example, the procedure “identification” in FIG. 5 indicates that the execution order set at the beginning, for example, cannot be changed from the top. On the other hand, the procedure “buy domestic stock” indicates that the operator can change the execution order at any time according to the customer's request.

FIG. 5B is a data structure diagram of the operation information holding unit 134 (continued).
The order condition column 146 records an “order condition” that defines the context of each procedure and another procedure. For example, the procedure “identification” indicates that it must be set before other procedures, that is, the procedure must be set at the top, and the procedure “change address” is set before the procedure “buy domestic shares”, etc. It is necessary to

  The update necessity column 148 records flag information indicating whether or not the operation information needs to be updated. A procedure in which this flag is set, for example, the procedure “final confirmation” indicates that the operation information should be kept up-to-date. In other words, when the operation information of the procedure “final confirmation” is displayed in the operation information display area 232 of FIG. 3, it indicates that the latest operation information should be displayed. Although not shown in FIG. 5, the operation information holding unit 134 may hold a plurality of subprocedures included in the procedure and combinations thereof. Returning to FIG.

  The customer attribute holding unit 136 holds customer attribute information indicating customer attributes. Customer attributes may be customer-specific information such as attributes related to the body such as age and gender, attributes related to life such as household composition, residence, and hobbies, and attributes related to social status such as annual income and occupation. . Further, asset information such as customer stock and deposit balance and past transaction information may be held as customer attributes. As another example, customer designation information based on the customer's response to the above-described IVR, for example, a customer's telephone request may be held as a customer attribute.

FIG. 6 is a data structure diagram of the customer attribute holding unit 136.
The customer column 150 records the name of the customer. The customer name shown in the customer column 150 is displayed in the customer information area 222 of FIG. As described above, the customer attribute holding unit 136 may hold “customer ID”, “age”, “phone number”, etc. (not shown), and these attribute information may also be displayed in the customer information area 222. Good.

  The identity confirmation necessity column 152 records flag information indicating whether or not identity confirmation work is necessary for customer correspondence. For example, when dealing with the same customer within a predetermined time, for example, within one hour from the previous correspondence, or when the identity is confirmed by the IVR, the identity confirmation necessity change unit not shown in FIG. The column 152 is updated to “unnecessary”. The identity confirmation necessity changing unit compares the previous work completion time with the time when the current workflow screen 220 is activated by the operator, and determines whether or not the change is necessary.

  The interruption procedure column 154 records the procedure being executed when the execution of the procedure in the customer service is interrupted. The interruption order information column 156 records the order information that was the object of execution at the time of interruption. Hereinafter, the procedure and the order information that are being executed are collectively referred to as “interruption information”. According to FIG. 6, in response to the customer “Nonomura” on the workflow screen 220 of FIG. 3, since the procedure “Domestic stock sale” was interrupted, the interruption procedure column 154 of the customer “Nonomura” shows “Domestic stock sale”. Is recorded. In the interruption order information column 156, the order information set at the time of interruption is recorded. Returning to FIG.

Data processing unit 120:
The data processing unit 120 includes an order information initialization unit 122, an order information control unit 124, an interruption information recording unit 126, and an operation information update unit 128.

  The order information initialization unit 122 refers to the customer attribute holding unit 136, creates initial order information, and sets it in the order information holding unit 132. First, the order information initialization unit 122 refers to the customer attribute holding unit 136 based on, for example, the customer ID input by the operator or the customer's caller telephone number, and acquires the customer attribute of the customer who is currently responding. Next, the order information initialization unit 122 refers to the operation information holding unit 134, acquires procedures having customer attribute conditions that match the acquired customer attributes, and creates initial order information including those procedures. To do.

  For example, as order information indicating a standard execution order, the procedure “identity confirmation” → “final confirmation” is set in the order information holding unit 132 in advance, and the account balance 3000 is set as the customer attribute of the customer “Suzuki”. Suppose 10,000 yen was recorded. At this time, the order information initialization unit 122 acquires “A fund is recommended” as a procedure having a customer attribute condition that matches the customer attribute. Next, the order information indicating the execution order including “identity confirmation” → “recommend A fund” → “final confirmation” including this is recorded in the order information holding unit 132. Thus, when the operator first displays the workflow screen 220, the workflow including the procedure “Recommend A Fund” is displayed.

  Further, the order information initializing unit 122 includes a procedure for verifying the identity in the initial order information when the necessity of identity verification included in the customer attribute acquired from the customer attribute holding unit 136 is set to “necessary”. Further, the order information initialization unit 122, when the customer attribute acquired from the customer attribute holding unit 136 includes the interruption information in the interruption procedure column 154 and the interruption order information column 156, the order information recorded in the interruption order information column 156 Is set as the initial order information. Alternatively, among the order information recorded in the interruption order information column 156, the order information indicating the execution order after the procedure recorded in the interruption procedure column 154 is set as initial order information. Specific examples will be described later.

  The order information control unit 124 controls change of the order information. Specifically, the order information set in the order information holding unit 132 is changed to the execution order specified by the operator. Note that the change in the execution order includes addition and deletion of procedures. In changing the execution order, the order information control unit 124 is designated by the operator with reference to the conditions held by the operation information holding unit 134 and to be satisfied in changing the execution order of each procedure. It is determined whether the execution order of the procedure related to the change matches the condition. When it is determined that they match, the order information control unit 124 changes the order information stored in the order information holding unit 132 to the execution order designated by the operator.

  The conditions that must be satisfied when changing the execution order of each procedure are set in, for example, the customer attribute condition column 142, the order change enable / disable column 144, and the order condition column 146 described above with reference to FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b). It is a condition. The order information control unit 124 determines whether or not the customer attribute of the customer who is responding matches the customer attribute condition in the customer attribute condition column 142. Further, it is determined whether the execution order specified by the operator matches the change permission flag in the order change permission / inhibition column 144 and whether the execution order matches the order condition in the order condition column 146. Specific examples will be described later.

  In addition, the order information control unit 124 detects the interruption corresponding to the customer and notifies the interruption information recording unit 126 described later. In this case, the order information control unit 124 may acquire data indicating that the customer service has been explicitly interrupted from the operator via the instruction detection unit 114, and before completion of all the procedures, It may be detected by receiving data indicating call disconnection in a telephone call with a customer from an exchange server (not shown). Note that the order information control unit 124 also manages the execution status of each procedure registered in the order information. When the completion button 238 is clicked, the execution state of the procedure is changed from fascination to completion state. When all procedures registered in the order information are completed, the customer service operation is also completed.

  The interruption information recording unit 126 obtains information on the procedure being executed from the order information control unit 124 when the execution of the procedure in the customer service of the operator is interrupted in the middle, and the order information being executed is ordered. Obtained from the information holding unit 132. The interruption information recording unit 126 records the acquired procedure and order information in the interruption procedure column 154 and the interruption order information column 156 of the customer attribute holding unit 136. As a result, the customer who was responding can be associated with the interruption information.

  The operation information update unit 128 acquires operation information of each procedure recorded in the operation information holding unit 134 from an external device, for example, the business system 210, and updates the operation information. In particular, when a procedure in which the update necessity column 148 is set to “necessary” is displayed by the operation display unit 112, the operation information update unit 128 externally displays the latest data to be set in the operation information of the procedure. Obtain from the device. For example, when the procedure “final confirmation” in which the update necessity column 148 is set to “necessary” is displayed, the operation information update unit 128 displays the procedure executed earlier, for example, “buy domestic stock”. The result is acquired from the business system 210, and the operation information of the procedure is updated.

  Hereinafter, the function of each functional block of the data processing unit 120 will be further described with reference to a schematic diagram illustrating a workflow to be generated and changed.

  FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for explaining generation and change of a workflow in customer correspondence. As shown in the first row of the figure, the procedure “final confirmation” is set in the order information holding unit 132 as the original order information. When the operator receives a telephone call from the customer, the order information initialization unit 122 refers to the customer attribute holding unit 136 and acquires the customer attribute of the customer who made the call. Here, it is assumed that the customer attribute needs to be verified and the account balance is set to 30 million yen.

  Since it is set in the customer attribute that identity verification is necessary, the order information initialization unit 122 adds the procedure “identity verification”. Next, referring to the operation information holding unit 134, a procedure having a customer attribute condition that matches the customer attribute is added. In this example, since the account balance is 20 million yen or more as a customer attribute, the procedure “Recommend A Fund” is added. The initial order information created in this way is the second-stage workflow in FIG. 7, and the order information initialization unit 122 sets this workflow in the order information holding unit 132. As a result, in the flow display area 224 of the workflow screen 220, in the initial state, the workflow “identification confirmation” → “recommend A fund” → “final confirmation” is displayed.

  Subsequently, when the operator accepts that he wishes to purchase domestic stocks and foreign stocks from the customer in a telephone conversation, the operator adds the procedures “buy domestic stocks” and “buy foreign stocks” to the flow display area 224. This instruction is detected by the instruction detection unit 114 as a change instruction input for instructing a change in the procedure execution order. When this change instruction input is detected, the order information control unit 124 first refers to the customer attribute conditions of the procedures “buy domestic stock” and “buy foreign stock”. As shown in FIG. 5A, since it is set that the securities account has already been opened as the customer attribute condition of these procedures, the order information control unit 124 refers to the customer attribute of the customer who is responding. To determine whether it matches the customer attribute condition. In other words, if there is information that the securities account has already been opened in the attribute information of the customer that is being handled, the execution order designated by the change instruction input is reflected in the order information holding unit 132.

  If the customer attribute of the customer being dealt with does not match the customer attribute condition, that is, if there is no information that the securities account has already been opened in the attribute information of the customer being dealt with, the order information control unit 124 changes this by inputting the change instruction. I refuse. The order information control unit 124 may notify the operator of the reason for the refusal via the user interface processing unit 110, so that the operator can advise the customer that a securities account should be opened first. .

  Further, when the operator accepts that he / she wants to register the address change from the customer, the operator adds the procedure “change address” to the flow display area 224. However, the order information control unit 124 refers to the order condition in the order condition column 146, and designates it by inputting a change instruction on the condition that the setting position of the procedure “change address” is before the procedure “buy domestic stock” or the like. The executed execution order is reflected in the order information holding unit 132. Therefore, the operator needs to add a procedure “change address” before the procedure “buy domestic stock” or the like. The order information changed in this way is the third workflow in FIG.

  The procedure “address change” and “foreign stock purchase” may be added during the procedure “buy domestic stock”, and the customer attribute condition and order condition are determined at the time of each addition. In addition, the operator can change the execution order of the procedure “buy foreign stock” and the procedure “buy domestic stock” at the request of the customer. For example, the operator can change the execution order of the procedure “identification”. I can't. The order of the former procedure can be changed, and the order conditions are not limited. On the other hand, the order information control unit 124 changes the order of the latter procedure because the order change enable / disable flag is set to “impossible”. Because it is rejected.

  Further, it is assumed that there is an instruction to charge an account management fee in the procedure “final confirmation” in the second-stage workflow in FIG. If the customer requests address change, domestic stock purchase, or foreign stock purchase during execution of the procedure “Recommend A Fund”, the workflow is changed to the third stage in FIG. Here, there is “account management fee confirmation” as a sub-procedure of the procedure “buying domestic stocks”. In this sub-procedure, the operator charges the account management fee to the customer and registers that it has been charged in the external system Suppose that In this case, the instruction to charge the account management fee is deleted from the procedure “final confirmation” in the workflow.

  This is because, as shown in FIG. 5B, the update necessity flag for the procedure “final confirmation” is set to “necessary”. That is, when the operation information of the procedure “final confirmation” is displayed according to the setting, the operation information update unit 128 acquires the latest information including the data for which the account management fee has been charged from the external device, and To reflect. Thereby, the instruction for charging the account management fee is deleted.

FIGS. 8A and 8B are schematic diagrams for explaining the generation and change (continuation) of the workflow in customer correspondence.
FIG. 8A shows a workflow that is generated when the customer corresponding to the workflow shown in FIG. 7 calls again in a short time to purchase the A fund. In this case, as described above, the identity confirmation necessity column 152 of the customer attribute holding unit 136 is set to “unnecessary” by the identity confirmation necessity changing unit (not shown). Therefore, the order information initialization unit 122 refers to the setting in the identity confirmation necessity column 152, and therefore does not include the procedure “identity confirmation” in the initial order information. Therefore, only the “final confirmation” is displayed on the initial workflow screen 220, and the operator then performs the customer operation by the second workflow in FIG. 8A to which the procedure “buy investment trust” is added based on the customer's request. Corresponding to

  FIG. 8B shows a workflow generated when the customer service for the same customer is resumed after the customer service according to the workflow shown in FIG. 7 is interrupted. In this example, it is assumed that the workflow in the first stage in the figure is originally executed, and the procedure “buy foreign stock” is being executed. In this case, first, the order information control unit 124 detects that the execution of the workflow has been interrupted, and notifies the interruption information recording unit 126 to that effect. The interruption information recording unit 126 records the procedure “buy foreign stock” in the interruption procedure column 154 of the customer attribute holding unit 136 and the order information of this workflow in the interruption order information column 156.

  Subsequently, when execution of the suspended workflow is resumed, the order information initialization unit 122 refers to the suspension procedure column 154 and the suspension order information column 156 of the customer attribute holding unit 136, and records the recorded sequence information. Among them, the order information after the procedure being executed is set in the order information holding unit 132. The order information generated in this way is the order information of the second stage in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a customer service process in the call center.
When the operator receives a telephone call from the customer via the operator telephone 202, the operator inputs the customer ID to the operator terminal 200 and displays the workflow screen 220. As will be described later, the order information initialization unit 122 generates initial order information and sets it in the order information holding unit 132 (S2). When the update necessity flag is set to “necessary” for the procedure to be displayed (Y in S4), the operation information update unit acquires the latest information from the external device and updates the operation information of the procedure (S6). ). If the update necessity flag is “unnecessary” (N in S4), the operation information is not updated at the time of display.

  The operation display unit 112 acquires operation information of a procedure to be executed from the operation information holding unit according to the order information set in the order information holding unit 132, and displays the workflow screen 220 (S8). In accordance with the operator's operation, the order information control unit 124 executes a workflow control process to be described later (S10), and when all procedures registered in the order information are completed (Y in S12), the customer service operation ends. If not completed (N in S12), the process returns to S4.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing in detail the initial order information setting process in FIG.
The order information initialization unit 122 refers to the customer attribute holding unit 136 and acquires the customer attribute associated with the customer (S20). When interruption information is recorded in the customer attribute (Y in S22), the order information initialization unit 122 creates order information based on the interruption information (S24), and sets the order information in the order information holding unit 132. (S34). If no interruption information is recorded in the customer attribute (N in S22), it is next determined whether or not identity verification is necessary. When identity verification is required (Y in S26), the sequence information initialization unit 122 adds the procedure “identity verification” to the execution sequence (S28). If identity verification is not required (N in S26), the procedure “identity verification” is not added.

  Subsequently, the order information initialization unit 122 refers to the operation information holding unit 134 and confirms whether there is a procedure having a customer attribute condition that matches the customer attribute. If there is a procedure that matches the customer attribute (Y in S30), the order information initialization unit 122 adds the procedure to the execution order (S32). If there is no procedure that matches the customer attribute (N in S30), the procedure is not added to the execution order. Finally, the order information initialization unit 122 sets the order information indicating the created execution order in the order information holding unit 132 (S34).

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing in detail the workflow control process in FIG.
When the order information control unit 124 detects that the execution of the workflow is interrupted halfway (Y in S40), the order information control unit 124 notifies the suspension information recording unit 126 to that effect, and the suspension information recording unit 126 displays the suspension information as the customer attribute. Recording is performed on the holding unit 136 (S42). When the interruption of the procedure is not detected (N in S40), when an operation by the operator is accepted via the workflow screen 220, the instruction detection unit 114 determines whether the instruction is a procedure completion instruction. If the instruction is a procedure completion instruction (Y in S44), the order information control unit 124 ends the process of the procedure that has been executed. If the instruction is not a procedure completion instruction (N in S44), the instruction detection unit 114 determines whether the input is an order change instruction input. If it is not an order change instruction input (N in S46), the process returns to the state of waiting for an instruction from the operator again.

  When it is an order change instruction input (Y in S46), the order information control unit 124 determines whether the customer attribute condition of the procedure related to the change matches the customer attribute of the customer who is responding. When the customer attribute condition is met (Y in S48), the order information control unit 124 determines the order changeable attribute of the procedure related to the change. If the order of the procedure can be changed (Y in S50), the order information control unit 124 determines whether the execution order specified by the operator matches the order condition of each procedure. When matching with the order condition (Y in S52), the order information control unit 124 updates the order information in the order information holding unit 132 in the designated execution order (S54). If any of the conditions in S48, S50, and S52 is not satisfied (N in S48, N in S50, and N in S52), the sequence information control unit 124 refuses to update the sequence information and waits for an instruction from the operator again. Return to state.

  According to this embodiment, it is possible to support workflow construction by an operator who should actually process a job. Thus, at the system construction stage, the contents of each procedure need only be defined as operation information, and there is no need to construct many combinations of assumed procedures, that is, workflow variations. In addition, it is possible to easily cope with addition / deletion / change of business caused by a customer's sudden request such as addition of “domestic stock purchase” at the time of “final confirmation”. In addition, by sequentially showing the execution order of each procedure and the contents thereof to the user, the operator can easily respond to the work to be processed and the customer's request without fail.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to support the construction of an appropriate workflow by the operator. Specifically, the workflow control apparatus 100 basically permits the change of the workflow by the operator, but the change contents and customer attributes match the conditions to be satisfied in changing the execution order of each procedure. The change is reflected in. As a result, it is possible to maintain the desired context of each business and maintain consistency between the businesses.

  For example, for a procedure that should be executed at a specific position, such as at the beginning of a workflow, the order can be changed by setting the order change enable / disable flag to “impossible”. In addition, it is possible to maintain the context between procedures by setting order conditions. In addition, for a procedure that can be provided only to a specific customer, by setting a customer attribute condition, the procedure can be executed only for a customer that matches the condition.

  Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to reduce the burden on the operator by automatically setting required procedures according to customer attributes. For example, when dealing with a customer who has not paid an account management fee for a predetermined period or longer, a procedure for automatically charging an account management fee is set. As another example, when a customer who is an employee of company A instructs the sale of shares of company A, a procedure of “confirm whether it is an insider transaction” is necessary. Even in such a case, it is possible to prevent a necessary procedure from being leaked by setting the attribute condition. In addition, the business effect can be enhanced by automatically setting the procedure according to customer attributes. For example, it is possible to automatically add a procedure for recommending a specific product to a customer having an account balance exceeding a predetermined condition.

  Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, further convenience can be provided to the operator and the customer. For example, identity verification for a customer is a procedure that should be executed at the beginning of a workflow in principle, but when dealing with the same customer within a predetermined time, the identity verification can be omitted, thereby reducing the burden on the operator and the customer. . Further, by recording interruption information, when customer service is resumed, a workflow after the suspended procedure is automatically set, and the customer service can be resumed from the point of interruption. This eliminates the need for the operator to hear the customer's request again and build a workflow, and can reduce the load on the operator and the customer. In addition, by setting the update necessity flag to “necessary” in the procedure, the displayed operation information can be kept up-to-date. As a result, the operator can obtain the latest information necessary for dealing with customers from the workflow screen 220 in a centralized manner, so that the load is reduced and operation errors caused by referring to past operation information can be reduced.

  The present invention has been described based on the embodiments. The embodiments are exemplifications, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to combinations of the respective constituent elements and processing processes, and such modifications are within the scope of the present invention. .

  As a modification, when the same procedure is included in the order information, the order information control unit 124 may consolidate these same procedures into one procedure. As an example, it is assumed that "buy domestic stock" is included in the order information and "foreign stock purchase" is added, and both procedures include the same sub-procedure "account management fee confirmation" And As described above, it is assumed that a plurality of subprocedures included in the procedure and combinations thereof are held by the operation information holding unit 134.

  In this case, when the order information control unit 124 refers to the operation information holding unit 134 and detects that the same subprocedure exists in the order information, the order information control unit 124 aggregates the same subprocedures into one subprocedure. To do. As shown in the workflow, if the procedure level is “Domestic stock purchase” → “Foreign stock purchase”, the sub procedure level is originally “Account management fee confirmation” → “Domestic stock selection” → “Domestic stock purchase confirmation” → “Account management fee confirmation” → “Foreign stock selection” → “Foreign stock purchase confirmation”. As a result of the aggregation processing by the order information control unit 124, at the sub-procedure level, “account management fee confirmation” → “domestic stock selection” → “domestic stock purchase confirmation” → “foreign stock selection” → “foreign stock purchase confirmation” Become.

  According to this modification, when the same procedure exists, it is possible to reduce the load on the operator and the customer caused by the same work being repeated. In particular, when a workflow includes a large number of procedures, it is likely that the procedure executed in the first half is forgotten and the same work is repeated when the latter procedure is executed. In this modification, the convenience of the operator and the user can be improved by automatically eliminating the repetition of the same work.

  In the embodiment, a workflow control apparatus 100 that manages and controls a workflow in a customer service operation by a call center operator has been proposed. However, the technical idea of the present invention is not limited to application to a call center. It is understood by those skilled in the art that the same effects can be achieved when applied to the general field of managing and controlling workflows, for example, workflow management in office work of office workers.

It is the schematic diagram which showed the variation of the workflow. It is a hardware block diagram which shows the relationship between a call center and a customer. It is a screen figure of a workflow screen. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of a workflow control apparatus. It is a data structure figure of an operation information holding part. It is a data structure figure of an operation information holding part (continuation). It is a data structure figure of a customer attribute holding part. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the production | generation and change of the workflow in customer correspondence. (A) and (b) of FIG. 8 are schematic diagrams for explaining generation and change (continuation) of a workflow in customer correspondence. It is a flowchart which shows the customer response business process in a call center. 10 is a flowchart showing in detail an initial sequence information setting process in FIG. 9. 10 is a flowchart showing in detail a workflow control process in FIG. 9.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Workflow control apparatus, 110 User interface processing part, 112 Operation display part, 114 Instruction detection part, 120 Data processing part, 122 Order information initialization part, 124 Order information control part, 126 Interruption information recording part, 128 Operation information update part , 130 Data holding unit, 132 Order information holding unit, 134 Operation information holding unit, 136 Customer attribute holding unit, 138 Procedure column, 140 Screen ID column, 142 Customer attribute condition column, 144 Order change enable / disable column, 146 Order condition column, 148 Update necessity column, 150 Customer column, 152 Identity confirmation necessity column, 154 Interruption procedure column, 156 Interruption order information column, 200 Operator terminal, 202 Operator phone, 204 Telephone network, 206 Customer phone, 208 LAN, 210 Business system , 22 0 Workflow screen, 222 Customer information area, 224 Flow display area, 226 Previous button, 228 Back button, 230 Procedure list area, 232 Operation information display area, 234 Procedure control area, 236 Previous transition button, 238 Complete button, 240 Next transition Button, 242 add button, 244 cancel button, 300 call center.

Claims (10)

As a business procedure to be executed by the user, an order information holding unit that holds order information indicating the execution order of a plurality of types of procedures;
An operation information holding unit for holding operation information indicating the contents of each procedure;
In accordance with the order information, an operation display unit for sequentially displaying operation information of each procedure registered in the order information on a screen;
An instruction detection unit that detects a change instruction input by a user for instructing a change in the execution order of the procedures during the operation information screen display;
An order information control unit that changes the order information to a designated execution order when the change instruction input is detected;
With
The operation information holding unit holds each operation information by associating each procedure with a condition to be satisfied in changing the execution order of each procedure,
The order information control unit changes the order information when the specified execution order matches the condition. A device for supporting customer service in a call center,
The user is an operator who handles calls from customers,
For each customer, a customer attribute holding unit that holds customer attribute information indicating customer attributes,
When the operator accepts a call from a customer, an order information initialization unit that creates initial order information and sets the order information holding unit;
Further comprising
The operation information holding unit holds each operation information by associating each procedure with an attribute condition related to a customer attribute,
The order information initialization unit refers to the customer attribute information of the corresponding customer, and when the customer attribute information matches the attribute condition, includes the procedure associated with the attribute condition. The workflow control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein order information is created.   The order information control unit refers to the customer attribute information of the corresponding customer, and on the condition that a change instruction input for a procedure in which the customer attribute information matches the attribute condition is detected, the order information The workflow control device according to claim 2, wherein the workflow control device is changed. The customer attribute information of the customer attribute holding unit includes flag information indicating whether or not the identity of each customer is required,
The order information initialization unit creates the initial order information including a procedure for identifying the identity when the identity of the customer is required with reference to the flag information of the customer being dealt with. The workflow control apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, wherein An interruption information recording unit for recording interruption information indicating the procedure being executed and order information in association with the customer and recording it in the customer attribute information when the execution of the procedure in the customer correspondence of the operator is interrupted Prepared,
The order information initialization unit refers to the interruption information associated with the customer in order to cause the operator to execute from the procedure that was being executed when the execution of the interrupted procedure is resumed. 5. The workflow according to claim 2, wherein, among the order information indicated by the suspension information, order information indicating an execution order after the procedure being executed is set as the initial order information. 6. Control device. The operation information holding unit holds each operation information by associating each procedure with changeability information indicating whether the execution order of each procedure can be changed,
The order information control unit, referring to the change permission information, changes the order information on condition that a change instruction input for a procedure whose execution order can be changed is detected. The workflow control device according to any one of 1 to 5. The operation information holding unit holds each operation information by associating an order condition that defines the context of a predetermined procedure with another procedure,
The order information control unit refers to the order condition when a change in execution order is designated for the predetermined procedure, and the condition is that the designated execution order matches the order condition. The workflow control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the order information is changed.   The workflow control according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the sequence information control unit aggregates the plurality of the same procedures into one procedure when the sequence information includes a plurality of the same procedures. apparatus. An operation information update unit that acquires data to be set in the operation information from an external device and updates the operation information,
The operation information holding unit holds each operation information by associating an update flag indicating that the operation information displayed on the screen should be kept up-to-date with a predetermined procedure,
The operation information update unit obtains the latest data to be set in the operation information of the predetermined procedure from the external device when displaying the operation information of the predetermined procedure associated with the update flag. The workflow control device according to claim 1. As a business procedure to be executed by the user, an order information holding function for holding order information indicating the execution order of a plurality of types of procedures;
An operation information holding function for holding operation information indicating the contents of each procedure;
An operation display function for sequentially displaying operation information of each procedure registered in the order information according to the order information;
An instruction detection function for detecting a change instruction input by a user for instructing a change in the execution order of the procedures during the operation information screen display;
An order information control function for changing the order information to a designated execution order when the change instruction input is detected;
Is realized on a computer,
The operation information holding function holds each operation information by associating each procedure with a condition to be satisfied in changing the execution order of each procedure,
The order information control function changes the order information when the designated execution order matches the condition.

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