JP2003115927A - Information providing service aid connection device, information providing service aid connection program, and medium for recording the program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To flexibly revise assignment of information providers classified by an information requester corresponding to temporal fluctuations of congestion or the like of communication means by each category so as to effectively utilize the information providers and provide a proper service to the classified information requester. SOLUTION: A classification means 1 classifies the information requesters on the basis of information request signals sent from information terminals, connects the classified information requesters to connection means 2-1 to 2-4, a congestion evaluation means 3 measures the congestion of classified communication means, an adjustment means 4 adjusts the information terminals of the information providers assigned to each classification according to the measured congestion by each classification so as to apply the information providers having been assigned to general customers to most important customers and the information providers having been assigned to the important customers to the general customers.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connection device for supporting a service of providing information manually, a program therefor, and a medium having the program recorded therein.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a user (information requester) and an operator (information provider) such as a call center are connected via a communication means, specifically, a telephone or the like, or an e-mail. There is a service in which at least one information provider individually answers (information provision) in response to a question (information request) from an unspecified number of information requesters by exchanging information such as the above.

By the way, in this type of information providing service, since the number of information providers is generally smaller than the number of information requesters, when many information requesters access at the same time, the information providers are immediately notified. The probability of being connected may be low, or it may take a long time from the information requester sending an information request mail to receiving the information providing reply mail.

The above-mentioned point is unavoidable to some extent in view of the fact that a limited number of information providers try to deal with it, but the information requesters are classified, for example, they are immediately connected to the information providers or an information provision mail is immediately returned. There are cases where it is desired to differentiate services by classifying them into information requesters (important customers) and other information requesters (general customers).

In the conventional connection device that supports this type of information providing service, separate contact points (for example, different contact points for telephone numbers, mail addresses, etc.) are provided for important customers and general customers, respectively. The service has been differentiated by allocating a sufficient number of information providers to the counter.

[0006]

However, since the frequency of access (the degree of congestion of communication means) constantly changes, the window for important customers is congested even if a sufficient number of information providers are intended to be allocated. On the other hand, there are times when the window for general customers who has assigned a small number of information providers is free.

In the above-mentioned conventional connection device, since the allocation of the information provider for each classification of the information requester is fixed, even in such a case, the allocation of the information provider is changed,
There is a problem that it is not possible to flexibly deal with the temporal fluctuation of the congestion degree of the communication means.

In view of such a situation, an object of the present invention is to
It is possible to flexibly change the allocation of information providers for each category of information requesters in response to temporal changes in the congestion degree of communication means for each category, and to make effective use of information providers and information for each category. To realize the provision of appropriate services to requesters.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, according to claim 1 of the present invention, an unspecified number of information requesters are connected by connecting an information requester and an information provider through a communication means. In response to an information request from a connection device that supports a service in which at least one information provider individually provides information, the information requester is at least predetermined based on an information request signal transmitted from the information terminal. Means for classifying into two categories, means for connecting the information terminal of the classified information requester to the information terminal of the information provider assigned to the corresponding class, and means for measuring the congestion degree of the communication means for each classification And means for adjusting the information terminal of the information provider assigned to each category according to the congestion degree for each category.

As a result, for example, when there are many inquiries from information requesters classified as important customers, and the congestion degree exceeds a predetermined reference value (hereinafter referred to as an allowable congestion degree), it is assigned to a general customer. If the information provider is assigned to an important customer, or if the congestion degree of the important customer is low and the congestion degree of the general customer is extremely high, the information provider assigned to the important customer is turned to the general customer. It can be performed. At this time, generally, different values are set as the allowable congestion levels of the important customer and the general customer.

Further, according to the second aspect of the present invention, by connecting the information requester and the information provider through the communication means, at least one information is requested in response to information requests from an unspecified number of information requesters. In a connection device that supports a service in which a provider individually provides information, means for classifying an information requester into at least two predetermined categories based on an information request signal transmitted from the information terminal; Means for measuring the congestion degree of the communication means, means for transmitting the congestion degree for each of the classifications to the information terminal of the information provider, and the information provider's information terminal according to the information input from the information terminal of the information provider. Means for selecting an information terminal of an information requester connected to the information terminal.

According to the invention of claim 1, the allocation of the information provider is automatically adjusted, but in the invention of claim 2, the information provider himself / herself makes the next connection destination according to the congestion degree of each customer classification. It is to assist in the manual adjustment, which is to decide.

Note that these information providing service support connection devices are information providing service support connection programs (claims 3 and 4) for configuring each of the above-mentioned means on a computer.
Alternatively, it can be realized by a computer-readable medium (Claim 5) in which the information providing service support connection program is recorded.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of an information providing service support / connection device of the present invention.
1 is a classification means, 2-1, 2-2, 2-3, 2-4 is a connection means, 3 is a congestion degree evaluation means, 4 is an adjustment means, and 5 is a list storage means.

The classifying means 1 is based on the information request signal transmitted from the information terminal of the information requester, specifically, the incoming signal when the communication means is a telephone, and the mail itself when the communication means is an electronic mail. (Actually, based on the identification information of the information requester such as the telephone number, login name, etc., and the presence or absence of the information that the user wishes to provide information for a fee, etc.)
The information requester is classified into at least two predetermined categories, here, four of a most important customer, an important customer, a general customer, and a paying customer (information requesting person who wants to provide information for a fee).

Connecting means 2-1, 2-2, 2-3, 2-4
Respectively connect the information terminals of the classified information requesters to the information terminals of the information providers assigned to the corresponding classification. That is, the connection means 2-1 connects the information terminal of the information requester classified as the most important customer to the information terminal of the information provider assigned to the classification of the most important customer, and the connection means 2-2 is the important customer. The information terminal of the information requester classified into 1. is connected to the information terminal of the information provider assigned to the classification of the important customer, and the connecting means 2-3 connects the information terminal of the information requester classified to the general customer. The connection means 2-4 connects to the information terminal of the information provider assigned to the general customer classification, and the connection means 2-4 provides the information terminal of the information requester classified to the paying desired customer to the information terminal assigned to the classification of the paying desired customer. Connect to the person's information terminal.

The connection referred to here includes not only real-time connection such as a line connection between telephones but also non-real-time connection such as a case of exchanging data such as electronic mail between terminals.

The congestion degree evaluation means 3 measures the congestion degree of the communication means for each classification. Specifically, for example, when the communication means is a telephone, the average success rate of connection (call loss rate) within a certain period of time in the past
If the communication method is e-mail, the average time from the receipt of the information request email from the information requester to the response of the information provider (reply to the information) and the current time It is possible to measure the number of reply mails and the like and use them as an index of congestion degree.

The adjusting means 4 adjusts the information terminal of the information provider assigned to each category according to the congestion degree for each category.

The list storage means 5 stores a customer classification list in which the information requesters for each classification are described together with their identification information.

The operation of this apparatus will be described below along with its detailed configuration.

When an information request signal is sent from the information terminal of the information requester, the classification means 1 compares the identification information included in the information request signal with the customer classification list in the list storage means 5 or pays. The information requester is classified by determining whether or not there is information in the information request signal indicating that information is desired to be provided.

Here, the information terminal of the information requester classified as the most important customer is connected to the connection means 2-1 and the information terminal of the information requester classified as the important customer is connected to the connection means 2-2 and to the general customer. The information terminal of the classified information requester is the connecting means 2-3.
Further, the information terminals of the information requesters classified as the information requesters who desire to provide information for a fee are connected to the connection means 2-4, respectively. The information terminal of the information requester has connection means 2-1 to 2-1.
After being connected to any of 2-4, it is connected to the information terminal of the information provider through the adjusting means 4.

In the adjusting means 4, each connecting means 2-1 to 2-
Adjust the terminal of the information provider connected to 4. There are various standards for the adjustment, but for example, the number of information providers to be allocated in the order of general customer, important customer, most important customer, customer wishing to pay, or not only the number but important customer, most important customer, paying wish It is possible to differentiate the information providing service for each customer category by assigning the information terminal of the information provider having a high level of knowledge and experience to the customer.

In the present invention, the congestion degree evaluation means 3 measures the congestion degree of the communication means for each classification, and the information terminal of the information provider assigned to each classification in the adjustment means 4 is dynamically based on the result. Adjust to.

For example, when there are many inquiries from information requesters who have been classified as the most important customers during operation, and the congestion degree exceeds a predetermined reference value (allowable congestion degree), the information assigned to general customers Adjustments such as directing the provider to the most important customer, or when the congestion level of the important customer is low and the congestion level of the general customer is extremely high, the information provider assigned to the important customer is redirected to the general customer. Make adjustments. On this occasion,
Different values are generally set as the allowable congestion levels of the paying customer, the most important customer, the important customer, and the general customer.

At this time, according to the level of the information provider, the information provider to which the classification of the allocation destination as described above is dynamically changed and the information provision in which the classification of the allocation destination is fixed. It is also possible to separately manage the person. That is, no matter how high the degree of congestion of important customers is, if it is judged that it is inappropriate to let low-level information providers deal with important customers, a group of such low-level information providers For example, it is fixed so that general customers can be dealt with at all times.

Further, even customers of the same category, for example, customers who have called many times and cannot connect to the information provider may be desired to be connected prior to the customer who called for the first time. . In such a case, the number of times that the user was busy and could not connect during the past fixed time is stored in the list storage means 5 or the like, and each connection means 2-1, 2-2, 2-3 is based on the number of times. , 2-4, the priority is increased, or a new classification such as busy is set and the allowable congestion degree of the classification is set low.
It is also possible to give priority to a customer who has called many times and was not connected, and to connect to the information provider.

FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of the information providing service support / connection device of the present invention. In the figure, the same parts as those of the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals. That is, 1
Is a classification means, 3 is a congestion degree evaluation means, 5 is a list storage means, 6 is a congestion degree transmission means, and 7 is a selective connection means.

The congestion degree transmission means 6 transmits the congestion degree (information) of the communication means for each classification to the information terminal of the information provider together with the classification (information) of the accessing information requester. The selective connection means 7 selects the information terminal of the information requester to be connected to the information terminal of the information provider according to the communication terminal selection information input from the information terminal of the information provider.

The operation of this apparatus will be described below together with its detailed configuration.

When the information request signal is sent from the information terminal of the information requester, the classifying means 1 classifies the information requester as in the case of the first embodiment. Then, the information request signal is sent to the selective connecting means 7 together with the information of the classification result.
Sent to.

Further, the congestion degree evaluation means 3 evaluates the congestion degree of the communication means for each classification in real time, and the congestion degree transmission means 6 transmits the result to the information terminal of the information provider.

The information provider inputs selection information for deciding which category of information provider to select to connect to the information terminal, referring to the result. By sending this selection information to the selective connection means 7, the information terminal of the information requester is selected, and the information terminal of the information provider and the information terminal of the information requester are connected.

At this time, the information provider can select the category to be connected after recognizing the congestion degree for each category, so that the connection with the information terminal of the information requester belonging to the category to be most urgently processed at that time is established. Can be done. It should be noted that which information requester's information terminal in the classification is to be connected is based on a certain criterion by the selective connection device 7 (for example, connection is made in the order in which the information request signal is received earliest in the classification). , Can be determined automatically.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to flexibly deal with the temporal fluctuation of the congestion degree for each classification while differentiating the service quality provided for each information requester classified according to the degree of importance in the service of providing information manually. An information providing service support connection device can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a first information providing service support connecting device according to the present invention.
Diagram showing the embodiment of

FIG. 2 is a second information providing service support connecting device according to the present invention.
Diagram showing the embodiment of

[Explanation of symbols]

1: classification means, 2-1 to 2-4: connection means, 3: congestion degree evaluation means, 4: adjustment means, 5: list storage means, 6: congestion degree transmission means, 7: selective connection means.

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Mikisuke Tamaki             2-3-1, Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo             Inside Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Inventor Koichi Yamada             2-3-1, Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo             Inside Telegraph and Telephone Corporation F-term (reference) 5K015 AA11                 5K024 BB07

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. At least one information provider individually provides information in response to information requests from an unspecified number of information requesters by connecting the information requester and the information provider via communication means. In a connection device that supports services to be provided, means for classifying an information requester into at least two predetermined categories based on an information request signal transmitted from the information terminal, and an information terminal of the classified information requester Means for connecting to the information terminal of the information provider assigned to the corresponding category, means for measuring the congestion degree of the communication means for each category, and information for the information provider assigned to each category according to the congestion degree for each category An information providing service support connecting device comprising: means for adjusting a terminal. 2. An information requester and an information provider are connected via a communication means so that at least one information provider can individually provide information in response to information requests from an unspecified number of information requesters. In a connection device that supports services to be provided, a means for classifying an information requester into at least two predetermined categories based on an information request signal transmitted from the information terminal, and a congestion degree of communication means for each category Means for transmitting the congestion degree for each classification to the information terminal of the information provider, and an information requester connected to the information terminal of the information provider according to the information input from the information terminal of the information provider And a means for selecting the information terminal of 1., the information providing service support connecting device. 3. By connecting the information requester and the information provider via a communication means, at least one information provider individually provides information in response to information requests from an unspecified number of information requesters. In an information provision service support connection program for realizing on a computer a connection device for supporting a service to be performed, the program is such that at least a predetermined number of information requesters are predetermined on the computer based on an information request signal transmitted from the information terminal. A means for classifying into two categories, a means for connecting the classified information requestor's information terminal to an information provider's information terminal assigned to the corresponding category, and a means for measuring the congestion degree of the communication means for each classification An information providing service comprising: means for adjusting an information terminal of an information provider to be assigned to each category according to the congestion degree of each category. Support connection program. 4. An information requester and an information provider are connected via a communication means so that at least one information provider can individually provide information in response to information requests from an unspecified number of information requesters. In an information provision service support connection program for realizing on a computer a connection device for supporting a service to be performed, the program is such that at least a predetermined number of information requesters are predetermined on the computer based on an information request signal transmitted from the information terminal. Means for classifying into two categories, means for measuring the degree of congestion of the communication means for each category, means for transmitting the degree of congestion for each category to the information terminal of the information provider, and input from the information terminal of the information provider Means for selecting the information terminal of the information requester connected to the information terminal of the information provider according to the information to be provided. Supported by connecting program. 5. A computer-readable medium in which the information providing service support connection program according to claim 3 or 4 is recorded.