JP6099396B2 - System and method for customer contact - Google Patents

Description

  In an increasingly networked society, users frequently use data networks to perform various tasks that they previously performed directly themselves. For example, a user may purchase goods from a network-based retailer using his computing device. In yet another example, a user may use a banking service for deposit balance inquiry, bill payment, account transfer date designation, and the like. As a result, network-based service providers face numerous contacts with customers before and after sales. Systems such as call centers have been developed as centralized scalable mechanisms for handling large numbers of calls across a variety of contact situations, including, for example, sales and marketing contacts, technical support, and billing. However, call centers have various drawbacks.

  For example, call center agent availability is generally based on a predetermined time. However, the predetermined contact availability time may be relatively easily out of sync with the actual agent availability, or may be outdated information. For example, special events (for example, closed days), time changes, network failures, excess or shortage of manpower, etc., each affect the agent's availability, but are not reflected in the hourly availability There is. As a result, the availability of the call center agent may be erroneously reported to the user, which may irritate the user who wants to contact the call center agent.

  The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages will become more readily apparent and will be more fully appreciated by reference to the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

1 is a schematic block diagram of an exemplary contact service in communication with a call distribution system that manages contacts between a customer and a customer service agent. FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the operating environment of FIG. 1 illustrating a contact service that provides contact status to a website in response to a request by a customer client device for a user interface that includes agent status. FIG. 6 illustrates an example user interface for display on a customer client device, including agent status. 2 is a block diagram of the operating environment of FIG. 1 illustrating a contact service that returns a contact identifier to a website in response to a request by a customer client device for a contact with a customer service agent. 2 is a block diagram of the operating environment of FIG. 1 showing a website returning a user interface for presentation of customer contact information to a customer client device and returning a customer service agent interface to a contact service. 2 is an exemplary user interface for display on a customer client device that allows a user to present customer contact information to a website. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the operating environment of FIG. 1 illustrating a contact distribution service attempting to contact a customer in response to receiving customer contact information. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the operating environment of FIG. 1 showing a contact distribution service that returns a contact status for display to a user. FIG. 4 illustrates an example user interface displayed on a customer client device to allow a user to view contact status. FIG. 4 illustrates an example user interface displayed on a customer client device to allow a user to view contact status. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the operating environment of FIG. 1 showing an agent client device generating a response to a customer inquiry. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the operating environment of FIG. 1 showing an agent client device returning an agent response to a customer inquiry and a contact status update for display to the customer. FIG. 5 illustrates an example user interface generated on an agent client device that enables an agent to view contact status and other contact session information.

  Briefly described, aspects of the present disclosure relate to providing users of network-based services (eg, websites) with very accurate and up-to-date information regarding service agent availability. A further aspect of the present disclosure relates to facilitating contact between a user and a service agent. The embodiments discussed below may refer to users as customers and service agents as customer service agents. However, it will be appreciated that users are not limited to customers and may include any user of a network-based service.

  In this regard, a contact service is described that receives a customer request for customer service agent availability and a customer request for contact with a customer service agent (CSA). For example, a customer using a customer computing device, such as a personal computer, may find an item of interest provided by a network-based service and desire to communicate with the CSA regarding that item of interest. This network-based service may provide the customer with the goods, services, or information of interest. Thus, network-based services include network-based retailers that sell to customers items that can be purchased by customers, network-based sources of entertainment and / or information (eg, network-based encyclopedias, media sharing, etc.), There may be a network-based social networking service that allows users to share content with each other. In one embodiment, a customer may use his computing device to request contact agent availability and contact with a service agent.

  As detailed below, these customer requests may be directed to contact services via network-based services. The contact service may present the request to the contact distribution system to generate a response. These responses may be obtained by a contact service and presented to a network-based service for display to a customer. For example, a network-based service may generate a user interface that incorporates a response for display to the user.

  More specifically, the contact distribution system may communicate with one or more CSAs to determine agent availability and to determine agent responses to customer inquiries. The contact distribution system may further establish a contact between the customer and the CSA based on the customer contact information provided to the contact service and report the status of the contact to the contact service. Since the contact distribution system may determine CSA availability directly from the CSA, it is unlikely that the agent availability information returned by the contact distribution system is old or incorrect. Thus, the customer may be presented with accurate agent availability information.

  In one non-limiting example, the network-based service may be a network-based retail service implemented via a website (eg, a website that sells music and video). A customer may use a personal computing device to identify an item of interest (eg, a movie) being displayed for sale by a network-based retail service. In addition to identifying the item of interest, the customer may also have one or more questions about the movie, such as how the movie is delivered. A customer may submit a request from her personal computing device to a retail service website for a user interface (eg, a web page) that includes information about contacts with the CSA. For example, a customer may present a request for a user interface that displays agent status.

  This request may be sent from the website to the contact service for response. The contact service may communicate with the contact distribution system to obtain real-time agent status returned to the website. The website may generate the requested web page based on the returned agent status and display it to the customer by the customer's computing device.

  The agent status may further be stored or cached by the contact service for a limited time to reduce the frequency with which requests for agent status are directed to the contact distribution system. For example, if another customer requests assistance for the same movie within a limited time period, the contact service may return a previously determined agent status rather than presenting a new request to the contact distribution service. .

  In another non-limiting embodiment, the customer may present customer contact information on a website. Once the customer contact information is provided to the content distribution service, the contact distribution service can initiate communication between the customer service agent and the customer. Customer contact information may include information regarding any form of communication available to the customer.

  A contact request including customer contact information may be transmitted to a contact service. Meanwhile, the contact service may present customer contact information to the contact distribution system. The contact distribution system may attempt to contact the customer using the contact information and return a corresponding contact status to the contact service. The returned contact status may be provided to the website by a contact service. This makes it possible to prepare another user interface including the contact status to be displayed to the customer. In a further non-limiting embodiment, once a contact is established between a customer and a service agent, the contact service may relay customer inquiries and agent responses between the service agent and the customer.

  In yet another embodiment, the contact service and contact distribution service generates and / or generates additional information to coordinate the reception and transmission of user contact requests and responses between the website and the contact distribution service. Or you may use. In one example, a unique identifier (referred to as a contact identifier (contact ID)) may be generated by a contact service to identify customer contact requests and shared with websites and customer client devices. .

  In another example, the contact distribution service may generate and store one or more identifiers that uniquely identify contacts generated by the contact distribution system. The contact distribution service may generate a first identifier (referred to as a contact leg identifier (contact leg ID)) to identify a contact made between the contact distribution service and the customer. The contact distribution service also responds to contacts made between the contact distribution service and the customer in order to identify a contact made between the contact distribution service and the agent (agent leg identifier (agent Leg ID)) may be generated. These identifiers may be provided to the contact service by the contact distribution service, which further associates the contact leg ID and agent leg ID with the contact ID, and stores the contact leg ID, agent leg ID, and association. Good.

  When establishing a contact between the CSA and the customer, the contact service may further associate these identifiers with other selected information generated during the establishment of the contact, and further these identifiers And associations may be stored. In this way, customer requests may be associated with the correct contact by the contact service and contact distribution system. This ensures that the response generated by the contact service and contact distribution system is properly delivered to the website used by the customer.

  Referring to FIG. 1, an embodiment of an operating environment 100 that automatically distributes customer contact to a customer service agent (CSA) is shown. In operating environment 100, a customer may use customer client device 160 to communicate with a network-based service implemented via website 154. The website 154 may maintain or generate one or more user interfaces 156 that can be displayed by the customer client device 160. If the customer wants to ask or inquire about information displayed on one or more of the user interfaces 156 provided by the website 154, the customer can request information about the customer service agent using the user interface 156. If necessary, communication with a customer service agent may be requested. Requests for CSA information and contacts with the CSA may be directed to a contact service 150 in communication with the contact distribution system 120, as described in detail below.

  It will be appreciated that many of the components described below are optional and that embodiments of the system 100 may or may not be combinations of components. . The components need not be separate or discrete. Components may be reorganized within the system 100. System 100 may be represented by a single physical server that includes all of the subsystems described below, or alternatively may be divided into multiple physical servers.

  Contact service 150 and website 154 may each be implemented with multiple components, each of which executes an instance of contact service 150 or website 154. Servers or other computing components that implement contact service 150 or website 154 may include network interfaces, memory, processing units, and computer-readable media drives, all of which are interconnected via a communication bus. You may communicate with. The network interface may provide connectivity across the network 110 and / or other networks or computer systems. The processing unit may communicate with memory that includes program instructions executed by the processing unit to operate the contact service 150 or website 154. The memory generally includes RAM, ROM, and / or other permanent and auxiliary memory.

  Customer client devices may include any communication device capable of displaying a user interface from website 154, such as a communication device such as a PC, kiosk, thin client, home computer, and dedicated or embedded machine. Further examples may include a laptop or tablet computer, personal computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), hybrid PDA / cell phone, cell phone, electronic book reader, set top box, and the like.

  Website 154 may communicate with customer client device 160 to transmit customer requests for contact with the CSA. These requests may include requests for CSA information. The CSA information includes an agent status that represents the current availability of the CSA for communication with the customer, a contact status that represents the status of the contact between the customer and the customer service agent in response to the request for the contact, and the customer request. Examples include, but are not limited to, agent responses.

  The response to the customer request may take the form of a user interface (UI) 156 generated by the website 154 in certain embodiments. User interface 156 may be generated using CSA information obtained from contact service 150. The user interface 156 may further be generated from a template user interface in certain embodiments. Such a template user interface may be maintained by the website 154 and / or contact service 150, a data store in communication with the website 154, and combinations thereof. In additional embodiments, the website 154 and / or contact service 150 may also generate an agent user interface 111 that is used by the CSA, as described in detail below.

  Website 154 may further communicate with contact service 150 to obtain CSA information. As described in detail below, the contact service 150 presents the contact request received from the website 154 to the contact distribution system 120 and returns a response to the website 154. Contact service 150 may further store at least a portion of the CSA information and other information generated when responding to customer requests in storage service 152.

  A description of an exemplary embodiment of contact distribution system 120 can be found in US patent application Ser. No. 12 / 192,067, “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATED CALL DISTRIBUTION”, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. It is. The system 120 may include a customer relationship module (CRM) 101, a contact controller service 102, a connectivity controller 103, and a metering service 104, each represented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof. Good. The system is responsible for allocating, routing and maintaining connections between customer client devices 160 and the CSA. As discussed below, a connection may be established between customer phone 105, CSA phone 106 and agent client device 107. System 100 may connect to customers and agents through telephone carriers 108 and 109 and data carrier 110.

  In alternative embodiments, the phones 105, 106 may be supplemented and / or replaced with other communication mechanisms. Examples include computing devices that are capable of sending and receiving e-mail, SMS messages, instant messages, electronic messages that have been published or posted for viewing by others, and video messages. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Contact distribution system 120 may connect to user client device 160 and agent client device 107 through one or more networks 110 known to those skilled in the art.

  In one embodiment, the contact distribution system 120 can manage contacts and relationships with its customers via the CRM 101. The CRM 101 may consist of multiple databases (not shown) and has links to other systems (not shown) that are directly and indirectly related to customer contact management. Also good. For example, as discussed below, CRM 101 may maintain and / or obtain customer information used by the CSA.

  Contact controller service 102 handles incoming calls from customers and other functions. Other features include tracking agent status / availability (ie, which agents are available to accept incoming calls from customers), customers waiting for a particular CSA or a particular type of call. Maintain a (potentially failed) logical queue (not shown) (a customer on hold may be connected to the media service 112), route calls, ie, enter an available agent from the customer. This includes, but is not limited to, matching incoming calls and transferring information generated by operation of the telephone subsystem (103 and accompanying components) to the metering service 104.

  The metering service 104 is generally connected to the contact controller service 102. This service stores information related to both customer contacts and CSA. In addition, the service may generate reports (eg, SL reports) based on real time data and historical data. The metering service may provide information to the contact controller service 102.

  The connectivity controller 103 operates a mechanism for controlling calls using SIP signaling (voice over IP technology), and exposes a function that enables call control by other systems (eg, contact controller service). A telephony event may be communicated through the system 100. The connectivity controller 103 may connect the customer phone 105 to the agent phone 106. Connectivity controller 103 may utilize subsystems of media server 112, interactive voice response (IVR) system 113, and call recorder system 114.

  Media server 112 may operate a mechanism for playing announcements and music on hold in many different situations of the system. Pending customers may be connected to this server. The system may play a “whisper” (ie, an information introduction message) to the CSA immediately before the CSA is connected to the customer.

  The interactive voice response system 113 may be a “robot” that may process customer contacts before the customer is transferred to a human CSA. The IVR may obtain preliminary information used for call routing and / or call type classification.

  Contact recorder system 114 may record customer contacts. The contact recorder may provide a common interface for recording contacts made or made anywhere in the system 100.

  A CSA typically has two connections to the system. That is, an agent client device indicated by 107 and a telephone connection indicated by 106. Agent client device 107 is capable of displaying a user interface 111 to system 100 and may be any computing device. One skilled in the art will recognize that one or more CSAs may be located in a traditional monolithic call center where the CSA and system 100 are in close physical proximity. Alternatively, the CSA is close to other CSAs (as in the case of a “call center”) but may be far from the system (in this case it will be housed in a “data center”) . As another alternative, one or more CSAs may be remote from the system data center and other CSAs. Agent client devices may include any communication device capable of displaying a user interface from contact distribution system 120, such as a communication device such as a PC, kiosk, thin client, home computer, dedicated or embedded machine. Further examples may include a laptop or tablet computer, personal computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), hybrid PDA / cell phone, cell phone, electronic book reader, set top box, and the like.

  Similarly, the agent telephone system 106 may include a special telephone device, a VoIP device, a composite PBX system, a commercially available telephone on a conventional telephone line, and the like. In some embodiments, the agent telephone system 106 does not need to be connected via a PBX or other telephone switching system. Further, for purposes of this disclosure, the grouping of one or more CSAs may be a physical grouping of CSAs within a monolithic call center or data center, for example CSAs that are not in physical proximity to each other. Is called an agent node.

  The CSA user interface 111 displays content from the contact controller service 102 or the CRM 101. Such an interface may be a proper application running on the computing machine. Alternatively, web pages, browsers, widgets, applets, etc. generated or provided by the contact controller service 102 or CRM 101 may be displayed. In another embodiment, the CSA user interface 111 may display web pages, browsers, widgets, applets, etc. generated or provided by network-based services. The link between the content distribution system 120 and the user interface 111 may be a host of a number of data carriers and protocols, including HTTP, HTTPS, instant messaging, distributed memory, or a proprietary protocol, or combinations thereof. It may be mediated by any of the above.

  The customer and the customer's phone system (shown at 105) correspond to the end user of the call system 100. Such customers may be connected to the content distribution system 120 via one of a number of telephone carriers 108. Such a connection may also be established by newer non-traditional protocols such as SIP, HTTP, IRC, other instant messaging protocols, etc. The customer may connect to the system using an inexpensive telephone device, a composite PBX system, or any other communication mechanism.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the operating environment of FIG. 1 showing a customer requesting a user interface from the website 154 that includes the status of the CSA of the website 154. A customer may communicate with website 154 via user interface 156 displayed by customer client device 160 to access any network-based service provided by website 154. If the customer has a problem or question displayed in one or more of the user interfaces 156 provided by the website 154, the user interface 156 may be requested to request the status of the customer service agent for the website. May be used. In this way, the customer may identify whether the CSA is available for assistance. As shown in FIG. 2, a customer may use a customer client device 160 to submit a request for a user interface that includes an agent status.

  For example, the request may include a request for a web page that includes an agent status. The request is transmitted to the website 154, which detects that an agent status is required to respond to the customer request and presents the agent status request to the contact service 150.

  Then, the contact service 150 presents a request for the agent status to the contact distribution service 120, and the contact distribution service 120 generates the agent status and returns it. In one embodiment, the real-time availability of the CSA may be generated by the contact distribution system 120 through communication with the CSA. For example, the CSA may press a key or select a user interface control from the CRM user interface 111 on the computing machine 107 to notify the system of availability. The contact controller service 102 may then initiate a call to the CSA (eg, via the CSA phone system 106) via the connectivity controller 103. In response to this call, the CSA may notify the system that he or she is ready and can accept calls from the customer.

  If no customer is waiting for service, the CSA may maintain this “silent open” (ie, handset disconnected) connection to the system to indicate continued availability. To signal a transition from available to unavailable (eg during lunch or break), the CSA simply hangs up. The disconnection to the connectivity controller 103 or the selection of an unacceptable status is that he or she is no longer able to contact the customer (or the CSA is unintentionally disconnected from the system, for example due to a network failure The contact controller service 102 and the CRM 101.

  If the CRM system 101 is down, the CSA may not be able to press or click on the user interface control to inform the system of availability, or if the CSA clicks on the user interface control, It may happen that the CSA does not enter the available status and therefore does not accept the call. Some embodiments may include a telephone system based interactive voice application that allows CSAs to communicate their availability through their telephone system 106.

  It will be appreciated that a silent open connection is not required for system operation. In an alternative embodiment, the CSA may notify availability by accessing the user interface 111 or a control on another device. If there is a customer to connect to the CSA, the contact controller 102 may instruct the connectivity controller 103 to connect to the CSA phone device 106, such as by making a call to the CSA phone device 106. .

  Beneficially, by placing the burden on informing the availability of the CSA, the contact distribution system always maintains a very accurate real-time indication of the CSA availability. In contrast to static mechanisms that determine agent status such as business hours, this real-time availability is highly adaptable to changes in agent availability and provides an almost immediate update of agent status. Therefore, it is unlikely that the agent status is stale when offered to the customer and helps ensure that the customer's expectations are met in all subsequent contacts between the customer and the CSA (eg, low latency) , CSA has the right ability to assist customers, etc.).

  The agent status returned to the contact service 150 may be further transmitted to the website 154 for final presentation to the customer. Upon receiving the agent status, the website 154 may generate a user interface that includes the agent status requested by the customer. The generated user interface may then be provided to customer client device 160 for display to the customer.

  FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment of a user interface 300 that includes an agent status displayed on the customer client device 160. The user interface 300 is a website www. xyz. and includes sales items in the first window 302 and help information in the second window 320. The user interface 300 may further include personal information 304 about the customer, such as a customer name, if available on the website 154. The user interface 300 may further include an image 306 of the item of interest (ie, object D), as well as additional purchase details regarding the object that are available from the website 154. For example, the purchase details may include the name of the object 310, a price 312, a rating 314, a description, and an effective inventory display 316 of the item of interest. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the purchase details shown in FIG. 3 are exemplary, and additional purchase or different purchase details may be included in the user interface 300.

  The help window 320 of the user interface 300 may further include a greeting 322 indicating agent status, CSA contact information 324, and contact user interface controls 326. In some embodiments, the agent status may be indicated as “available” or “not available”. When the agent status is “Available”, the customer may use the contact user interface control 326 to contact the CSA. By selecting the contact user interface control 326, a contact request can be presented to the website 154, which allows a contact to be established in a short period of time. Such contact user interface controls are often referred to as “click to call” controls.

  In certain embodiments, the contact user interface control 326 may not be present in the user interface 300 when the agent status is “unavailable”. Accordingly, the user interface 300 may be provided by the website 154 to indicate to the customer that no CSA is currently available for communication and cannot receive any communication. A contact user interface control 326 may also be provided in the user interface 300 to allow the customer to provide contact information that the CSA can use to contact the customer after some time. Good. By selecting the contact user interface control 326, a contact request can be presented to the website 154, which allows a contact to be established when the CSA is available after some time.

  FIG. 4A shows a block diagram of the operating environment 100 of FIG. 1 showing a contact request being presented to the website 154. The customer may decide to communicate with the CSA upon receiving the agent status at the user interface, as shown in FIG. A request to contact the CSA may be presented, for example, by the customer selecting a contact control 326 in the user interface 300. Upon receiving the contact request, the website 154 presents a request for the contact identifier (contact ID) to the contact service 150. The contact identifier is an identifier that uniquely identifies the requested user contact for the contact service. As detailed below, information generated during the process of establishing a contact between a customer and a CSA may be associated with a contact identifier. This association allows the contact service 150 to properly identify the information associated with the contact request, so that an appropriate response to the contact request is returned to the website 154. Upon receiving the contact ID request, the contact service 150 generates a contact ID and returns the contact ID to the website 154.

  After the website 154 receives the contact ID, the website 154 proceeds to generate and distribute one or more user interfaces in response. FIG. 4B shows a block diagram of the operating environment 100 of FIG. 1 showing a website response to receipt of a contact ID. In one aspect, the website 154 may generate an agent user interface 111 for use by the CSA. Website 154 may further associate agent user interface 111 with a contact ID and provide each to contact service 150. Contact service 150 may store an agent user interface and contact ID for later use when a contact between a customer and a CSA is established.

  In another aspect, the website 154 may generate a user interface for use by the customer to present customer contact information for establishing contact with the CSA. Website 154 may further associate this user interface with a contact ID and provide each to customer client device 160. In this manner, contact information presented later by the customer may be associated with the contact ID, ensuring that the contact service 150 responds appropriately to contact requests from the customer client device 160.

  FIG. 5 is an embodiment of a user interface 500 displayed on the customer client device 160 that allows the customer to present contact information to the website 154. User interface 500 may include an identifier associated with website 154. For example, the identifier 502 may include graphics, a logo, etc. The user interface 500 may further include instructions 504 for the customer to enter contact information, such as “Please enter your contact information below”. Contact information may include one or more of customer country 506, telephone number 510, and time 512 to contact the customer.

  The time 512 provided in the user interface 500 may change depending on the agent status. When the agent status is “Available”, the customer may enter any contact time that reflects the current availability of the CSA. When the agent status is “not available”, the customer may be limited to a selected time. For example, a selection option for time 512 under these circumstances may include a time range that is “first available” or a suggested time. The time range or proposed time may be corrected from the current time by an amount selected in some embodiments, reflecting the current availability of the CSA.

  It will be appreciated that other customer contact information may be presented instead of or in addition to the foregoing, such as email addresses, instant messaging addresses, and user accounts of other network-based services. Let's go. The customer may present contact information by selection of user interface control 514.

  When displayed, a user interface that allows entry of customer contact information, such as that shown in FIG. 5, allows the customer to enter his or her contact information and continue the process of contacting the CSA. May be used. FIG. 6A is a block diagram of the operating environment 100 of FIG. 1 showing a website 154 that presents customer contact information for contact with the CSA to the website 154. As shown in FIG. 6A, the presentation may further include a contact ID previously generated by the contact service 150 for the contact. The website 154 further presents the contact information and contact ID to the contact service 150, thereby passing this information to the contact distribution service 120.

  Contact distribution service 120 may also attempt to contact the customer using the customer contact information received from contact service 150. In one embodiment, the contact distribution service 120 may make it impossible to establish a contact with a customer. For example, contact information provided to the contact distribution service 120 may be invalid, or network problems may prevent contact establishment. In other embodiments, the contact distribution service may successfully establish contact with the customer. Examples of successful contacts may include a phone ringing when attempting to call a customer and a customer responding to the call attempt. In other embodiments where contact is not performed by phone, examples of successful contacts may include an acknowledgment that an instant message, SMS message, video message, or other form of electronic message was successfully received. .

  Upon making a contact attempt, the contact distribution service 120 may return a contact status to the contact service 150. FIG. 6B is a block diagram of the operating environment 100 of FIG. 1 showing a contact distribution service 120 that returns contact status to the contact service 150. The contact status represents the status of the contact between the customer and the customer service agent in response to a request for the contact. When a successful contact is achieved, the contact distribution service 120 may also generate a contact leg identifier (contact leg ID) and return it to the contact service 150. The contact leg ID represents an identifier that uniquely identifies a successful contact to the contact distribution system 120. When a successful contact is achieved, the contact distribution service 120 may also generate an agent leg identifier (agent leg ID). The agent leg ID may be returned to both the contact service 150 and the agent client device 107. The contact leg ID represents an identifier that uniquely identifies a contact between the agent and the contact distribution service.

  Upon receiving the contact leg ID, agent leg ID, and contact status, contact service 150 may associate this information with the contact ID and agent user interface and store each in storage service 152. In this manner, contact service 150 may associate information received for transmission to contact distribution system 120 with the appropriate contact. For example, as discussed below, customer queries generated by customers using customer client device 160 may be identified with specific contacts maintained by contact distribution system 120.

  As also shown in FIG. 6B, the contact status may be further transmitted to the website 154. At the website 154, a user interface including contact status may be generated. As described above, the reconfigured user interface may be generated with or without a user interface template. Once generated, a user interface including contact status may be transmitted to customer client device 160 for display to the customer.

  Contact status may also change dynamically during the course of communication between the customer and the CSA. If the state changes, the contact distribution system 120 may update the contact status associated with the contact leg ID and provide the updated contact status to the contact service 150. Since the contact service 150 pre-associates the contact leg ID with the contact ID, the contact service 150 can identify that the contact status is updated with the appropriate contact. Contact service 150 may further store the updated contact status and provide the updated contact status to website 154. The website 154 may now generate an updated user interface including updated contact status for display by the customer client device 160.

  Various contact statuses may be presented to the customer to reflect the change status of the contact. Examples of contact status may include, but are not limited to, connected, connected, suspended, and terminated. The connected state may be indicated while the contact distribution service is attempting to contact the user. For example, the connected state may be displayed to the customer after the customer has dialed the phone number but before the customer takes the call. The connected status may be indicated after the customer dials the phone number and after the customer picks up the phone. The hold state is after the customer has taken the call, but may be indicated after the CSA or contact distribution service 120 places the customer on hold. The termination status may be indicated after an established contact has been terminated, for example by a customer or CSA. It will be appreciated that these contact statuses are discussed as examples and that other states may be returned by the contact distribution system 120 without limitation.

  In further embodiments, the contact between the customer and the CSA may be resumed at a later date instead of or after placing the customer on hold (eg, the customer may re-call). In an alternative embodiment, the user interface may return to provide the customer with an option to resume contact, instead of being put on hold, and in another embodiment, the user interface displaying the option to resume contact may include: After the customer has been placed on hold for a selected duration, it may be presented to the customer.In a further embodiment, contact with the customer is instead of putting the customer on hold or over a selected duration. It may be automatically resumed after the customer is put on hold.

  The time at which contact with the customer is resumed may be determined through a variety of different mechanisms. In one embodiment, the contact may contact the contact distribution service 120 and / or at any time (eg, first available CSA) or at a planned time window (eg, within 24 hours of the time of the first contact). Or it may be resumed by the CSA. In another example, the time of contact to be resumed may be scheduled by the customer (eg, through a user interface). In situations where the contact resumption time is specified (eg, automatically) to the customer, an estimate of when the contact can be resumed may be provided to the customer.

  7A and 7B show examples of user interfaces 700, 712 displayed on a customer client device 160 showing contact status to the customer. FIG. 7A shows a user interface 700 that is generated to show a “connected” state to a customer, while FIG. 7B shows a user interface that is generated to show a “connected” state to the customer. 712 is shown. As discussed with respect to FIG. 5, the user interfaces 700, 712 may include a selected identifier 502 associated with the website 154. For example, the identifier 502 may include graphics, a logo, etc. The user interface 700, 712 may further include instructions 704, 714 to the customer that inform the customer about actions that the customer should or should not take. The user interface 700, 712 may additionally include contact status 706, 716. User interface 700, 712 may further include user interface controls, such as 710, 720, that allow the customer to terminate contact with the CSA.

  The user interfaces 700, 712 may also indicate to the customer other contact status that the customer may be interested in regarding communication with the customer's CSA. In some embodiments, when a customer is communicating with a CSA, a contact status may be displayed to the customer indicating the duration of communication between the user and the CSA. In another embodiment, if the customer is connected to the contact distribution service 150 but has not yet communicated with the CSA, the length of time the customer is waiting to communicate with the CSA and / or communication with the CSA A contact status indicating the length of the estimated time may be displayed.

  Once contact is successfully established between the customer and the CSA, the customer may begin communicating with the CSA. For example, a customer may wish to make one or more inquiries to a CSA. FIG. 8A is a block diagram of the operating environment 100 of FIG. 1 showing the presentation of a customer inquiry by a customer. A user interface may be presented to the user that allows the presentation of customer inquiries using one or more of text, audio, and video. For example, user interfaces such as 700, 712 may be further modified to allow for the presentation of text, audio, and / or video input. In certain embodiments, a contact ID may also be presented along with the customer inquiry. Customer inquiries and contact IDs may be presented on website 154 where they are subsequently transmitted to contact service 150.

  Contact service 150 may identify a previously generated agent user interface in accordance with the contact ID stored in storage service 152 upon receipt of the customer inquiry. The agent user interface and contact ID and agent leg ID may be retrieved from the storage service 152 and provided to the contact distribution service 120 to facilitate agent responses to customer inquiries. The customer inquiry, agent user interface, and agent leg ID may also be transferred to the agent client device 107 via the contact distribution service 120. The agent leg ID can assist the agent in identifying the contact to which the customer inquiry belongs and facilitates the generation of an agent response to return.

  Agent responses include any type of response that is appropriate for customer inquiries. In some embodiments, the agent response may be provided with the same contact type as the query. For example, if the customer inquires about the shipment of the item, the agent response may be delivered by phone. The agent response may be further provided using a different contact type than the query. For example, further assume that a customer inquiry regarding the shipment of an item is presented by phone, the agent response may be delivered by phone, and additional instructions may be emailed electronically to the customer's selected email address. May be sent by.

  After the CSA presents its response to the customer inquiry, the agent response may be returned to the customer. FIG. 8B is a block diagram of the operating environment of FIG. 1 showing the agent response returned to the customer client device 160. If necessary, contact status updates may be provided with the agent response. For example, the customer may present a query that requires the CSA to obtain additional information for the response. In such a case, the CSA may respond that it is necessary to respond to more information, and the contact status is CSA until the contact is still valid but additional information is acquired. May be changed from “connected” to “suspended” to reflect that the device is not responding. In another example, the agent response may terminate the contact. In such cases, the CSA may provide their final response, and the contact status may be changed from “connected” to “closed”. The agent leg ID may further include an agent response to identify the contact associated with the agent response.

  Agent responses and status updates are returned to the contact service 150. As described above, upon receiving an agent response and status update, contact service 150 may update the contact status and store the updated contact status in storage service 152. Contact service 150 may further provide agent responses and status updates to website 154. As described above, a user interface including agent responses and state updates may be generated with or without a user interface template. Once generated, a user interface including agent responses and status updates may be transmitted to the customer client device 160 for display to the customer.

  FIG. 9 shows an exemplary agent user interface 900 that may be shown to a CSA with a customer inquiry. In certain embodiments, the user interface 900 may include a session information window 902 and a contact status window 906. Session information window 906 may include information about the customer, including the customer profile, browser history, and page views. The customer profile may include some information about the customer that may assist the CSA in contacting the customer. As described above, this information may be maintained by the CRM 101 and determined by the IVR during the initial period of contact with the customer prior to communicating with the CSA and / or provided by the website 154. . Examples of customer profiles include customer personal information (eg, name, age, location, etc.) and history about website 154 (eg, browsing history, purchase history, etc.), or history of contact distribution services (eg, previous history) Contact history), but is not limited to this. The browsing history may include items viewed by the customer on the website 154 within a time period selected from the contact (eg, one day, one week, one month, etc.). The example page view 904 of the user interface 900 shown in FIG. 9 may include a view of the user interface from which the customer presented his / her contact request. For example, the page view 904 may include personal information 304, an image 306 of the item of interest, an object name 310, a price 312, a rating 314, a description, and an effective inventory indication 316 of the item of interest.

  Contact status window 906 may include a contact status display 322 and controls 912, 914 for managing contacts. In some embodiments, the contact status display 322 may indicate the same contact status that is displayed to the customer, facilitating the CSA to recognize the contact status with the customer. The controls 912, 914 may include a hold control 912 and an end control 914. As mentioned above, these controls may be used by the CSA in conjunction with their responses as needed.

Item 1. A system for facilitating contact between a user of a network-based service and a service agent of a network-based service,
A contact service in communication with a customer service agent that provides agent status and contact status, where the agent status represents the current availability of the service agent communicating with the user, and the contact status indicates the user and service agent A contact service that represents the state of contacts between
A computing device in communication with a contact service,
A first user interface is generated in response to the user request, the first user interface includes an agent status and allows a request for contact between the user and the service agent to be presented to the computing device. , Agent status is obtained from contact service,
Generating a second user interface in response to a user request for the contact, the second user interface allowing user contact information to be presented to the computing device;
Presenting the received user contact information to the contact service and generating a third user interface, wherein the third user interface includes a contact status obtained from the contact service in response to the presented user contact information A computing device that operates as
A system comprising:

  Item 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the first, second, and third user interfaces are configured for display to a user.

  Item 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the contact information includes one or more of a phone number, an email address, an instant messaging address, and a user account for another network-based service.

  Item 4. The contact between the user and the service agent is performed by one or more of a telephone, email, SMS message, instant messaging, an electronic message published or posted for others to view, and a video message. The system according to item 1.

  Item 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the first user interface further comprises a contact user interface control for presenting a request for contact between the user and the service agent to the computing device.

Item 6. A system for communication between a user and a service agent,
A data store that maintains one or more user interface templates;
A computing device in communication with a data store,
A first request for a first user interface is obtained from a user, wherein the first user interface includes an agent status, the agent status indicates the current availability of one or more service agents for contacting the user. Represent,
Retrieve the first user interface template from the data store,
A first user interface is generated that includes a first user interface template and an agent status, wherein the agent status is obtained from a contact service in communication with one or more service agents and is displayed for display to a user. A computing device that operates to provide a user interface of:
A system comprising:

Item 7. Computing devices
Receiving a second request for contact with a service agent from a user;
Retrieve the second user interface template from the data store,
A second user interface is generated comprising a second user interface template, the second user interface allowing a user contact information to be submitted to a computing device and a second for display to a user Further operates to provide a user interface,
7. The system according to item 6.

Item 8. Computing devices
Present user contact information to the contact service,
Receiving a contact status from the contact service in response to the presentation of the user contact information, the contact status represents a user contact with the service agent according to the user contact information;
Further operating to generate a third user interface including contact status and provide a third user interface for display to the user;
The system according to item 7.

  Item 9. The system of claim 6, wherein the first user interface further comprises a contact user interface control for presenting a request for contact between the user and the service agent to the computing device.

  Item 10. The system of claim 8, wherein the computing device is further operative to generate an agent user interface for display to the service agent during contact with the user.

  Item 11. 7. The system of clause 6, wherein the agent status is based on availability feedback from a service agent.

  Item 12. The system of claim 6, wherein the network-based service comprises a network-based retailer.

  Item 13. The system of claim 6, wherein the contact information includes one or more of a phone number, an email address, an instant messaging address, and a user account for another network-based service.

  Item 14. The contact between the user and the service agent is performed by one or more of a telephone, email, SMS message, instant messaging, an electronic message published or posted for others to view, and a video message. 7. The system according to item 6.

Item 15. A computer-implemented method for facilitating communication between a user and a service agent,
Under the control of one or more configured computer systems,
Requesting an agent status from a contact service in communication with one or more service agents, the agent status requesting an agent status representing the current availability of a service agent communicating with a user; ,
Providing the user with the agent status received from the contact service;
Requesting contact with a service agent, wherein the contact request includes requesting a contact including user contact information;
Providing the user with contact information received from the contact service in response to the user contact information presented to the contact service;
A computer-implemented method that includes:

  Item 16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, further comprising providing a service agent to the user in response to the user query.

  Item 17. 16. The computer implemented method of claim 15, wherein the agent status is based at least in part on availability feedback from a service agent.

  Item 18. 16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the contact information includes one or more of a phone number, an email address, an instant messaging address, and a user account for another network-based service.

  Item 19. The contact between the user and the service agent is performed by one or more of a telephone, email, SMS message, instant messaging, an electronic message published or posted for others to view, and a video message. 16. A computer-implemented method according to item 15.

Item 20. A computer readable medium having coded instructions thereon for indicating service agent information to a user when the instructions are executed by a computing device
Requesting agent status from a contact service that is in communication with one or more service agents, where the agent status requests an agent status that represents the current availability of the service agent to communicate with the user. And
Providing the user with the agent status received from the contact service;
Receiving a user request for contact with a service agent, the contact request receiving a user request including user contact information;
Obtaining a contact status from a contact service, wherein the contact status represents a contact status between a user and a service agent;
Providing the agent status to the user and causing the computing device to
A computer-readable medium.

  Item 21. 21. The computer readable medium of claim 20, further comprising providing a service agent to a user in response to a user query.

  Item 22. 21. The computer readable medium of clause 20, wherein the agent status is based at least in part on availability feedback from a service agent.

  Item 23. 21. The computer readable medium of clause 20, wherein the contact information includes one or more of a phone number, an email address, an instant messaging address, and a user account for another network-based service.

  24. The contact between the user and the service agent is performed by one or more of a telephone, email, SMS message, instant messaging, an electronic message published or posted for others to view, and a video message. 21. A computer readable medium according to item 20.

Item 25. A system for coordinating contact between a user and a service agent,
A network-based service that generates a user interface for display to a user, the user interface including a network-based service that includes service agent information;
A data store for storing service agent information;
A contact service communicating with a network-based service,
Receive electronic requests for service agent information from network-based services,
Obtaining service agent information from the contact distribution system, wherein the contact distribution system generates service agent information by communicating with one or more service agents and determining the service agent information from the one or more agent responses;
A contact service that operates to provide the acquired service agent information to a network-based service and store at least a portion of the received service agent information in a data store;
A system comprising:

  Item 26. 26. The system of clause 25, wherein the request for service agent information includes a request for agent status, wherein the agent status represents a current availability of a service agent communicating with a user.

  Item 27. 26. The system of clause 25, wherein the request for service agent information includes a request for contact status, wherein the contact status represents a state of a contact between the user and the service agent.

  Item 28. 26. The system of clause 25, wherein the contact service is further operative to generate a contact identifier, the contact identifier uniquely identifying a request from the network service agent to the contact service.

  Item 29. 28. The system of clause 27, wherein the contact service is further operative to obtain a contact leg identifier from the contact distribution service, the contact leg identifier uniquely identifying a contact status for the contact distribution service.

  Item 30. 26. The system of clause 25, wherein the contact service is further operative to obtain an agent leg identifier from the contact distribution service, the agent leg identifier uniquely identifying a contact between the agent and the content distribution service.

Item 31. A system for coordinating contact between a user and a service agent,
A data store,
A contact service communicating with a data store,
Obtaining a request for service agent information and responding to a request for service agent information with a response from the contact distribution system, wherein the contact distribution system communicates with one or more service agents and services from one or more agent responses A contact service that operates to generate service agent information by determining agent information;
A system comprising:

  Item 32. 32. The system of clause 31, wherein the service agent information includes an agent status, wherein the agent status represents a current availability of a service agent communicating with a user.

  Item 33. 33. The system of clause 32, wherein the agent status is based on the availability of signaling the contact distribution system by one or more service agents using an agent user interface for the contact distribution system.

  Item 34. 32. The system of clause 31, wherein the service agent information includes a contact status, and the contact status represents a state of a contact between the user and the service agent.

  Item 35. The contact service operates to receive a request for service agent information including user contact information, and the contact status is at least partly related to the state of the contact generated between the user and the service agent using the user contact information. 35. The system of clause 34, based on:

  Item 36. 32. The system of clause 31, wherein the service agent information includes a service agent response to the user inquiry after a contact between the user and the service agent is established.

  Item 37. 32. The system of clause 31, wherein the contact service is further operative to uniquely identify a request for service agent information and to obtain an identifier that responds to the request.

  38. 38. The system of clause 37, wherein the contact service is further operative to generate a contact identifier, the contact identifier uniquely identifying a request for service agent information to the contact service.

  39. 40. The system of clause 38, wherein the contact service is further operative to obtain a contact leg identifier from the contact distribution service, the contact leg identifier uniquely identifying a response to a request for service agent information.

  40. 38. The system of clause 37, wherein the contact service is further operative to obtain an agent leg identifier from the contact distribution service, the agent leg identifier uniquely identifying a contact between the agent and the content distribution service.

  Item 41. 40. The system of clause 38, wherein the contact service is further operative to associate the contact identifier and the contact leg identifier with each other to facilitate responding to a request for service agent information with a corresponding response.

  Item 42. 38. The system of clause 37, wherein the contact service is further operative to store at least one of an identifier and user information received in response to a request for service agent information.

  Item 43. A contact distribution system provides contact between a user and a service agent by one or more of telephone, email, SMS messages, instant messaging, electronic messages that are published or posted for others to view, and video messages. 36. The system of clause 35, enabling.

  Item 44. 44. The system of clause 43, wherein the contact status includes a duration while the user is waiting for communication with the service agent.

  Item 45. 45. The system of clause 43, wherein the contact status includes at least one connected state of a connected state, a connected state, and a pending state.

  46. 45. The system of clause 43, wherein contact between the user and the service agent may be resumed after some time.

47. A computer-implemented method for coordinating contact between a user and a service agent,
Under the control of one or more configured computer systems,
Obtaining a request for service agent information;
Generating service agent information by communicating with one or more service agents and determining service agent information from one or more agent responses;
Associating the generated service agent information with a request for service agent information;
Responding to the request with the generated service agent information;
A computer-implemented method that includes:

  48. 48. The computer-implemented method of clause 47, wherein the service agent information includes an agent status, wherein the agent status represents a current availability of a service agent with which the user communicates.

  49. 49. The computer implemented method of clause 48, wherein the agent status is based on an availability signal received from a service agent.

  50. 48. The computer-implemented method of clause 47, wherein the service agent information includes a contact status, wherein the contact status represents a status of a contact between the user and the service agent.

  Item 51. 48. The computer-implemented method of clause 47, wherein the service agent information includes a service agent response to the user inquiry after a contact between the user and the service agent is established.

  52. 48. The computer-implemented method of clause 47, wherein the service agent information is associated with the request for service agent information by associating the service agent information and an identifier that uniquely identifies each of the requests for the service agent information with each other. .

  53. 53. The computer implemented method of clause 52, further comprising storing one or more of service agent information, identifiers, and associations between identifiers.

54. A computer readable medium having coded instructions thereon for coordinating contact between a user and a service agent, the instructions being executed by a computing device,
Obtaining a request for service agent information;
Generating service agent information by communicating with one or more service agents and determining service agent information from one or more agent responses;
Associating the generated service agent information with a request for service agent information;
Responding to the request with the generated service agent information and causing the computing device to
A computer-readable medium.

  Item 55. 56. The computer readable medium of clause 54, wherein the service agent information includes an agent status, wherein the agent status represents a current availability of a service agent communicating with a user.

  Item 56. 56. The computer readable medium of clause 55, wherein the agent status is based on an availability signal received from a service agent.

  Item 57. 55. The computer readable medium of clause 54, wherein the service agent information includes a contact status, wherein the contact status represents a contact status between the user and the service agent.

  Item 58. 55. The computer readable medium of clause 54, wherein the service agent information includes a service agent response to a user inquiry after a contact between the user and the service agent is established.

  Item 59. 56. The computer readable medium of clause 54, wherein the service agent information is associated with the request for service agent information by associating the service agent information and an identifier that uniquely identifies each request for the service agent information with each other. .

  Item 60. 60. The computer readable medium of clause 59, further comprising storing one or more of service agent information, identifiers, and associations between identifiers.

  All of the processes described herein may be embodied in and fully automated via software code modules executed by one or more general purpose computers or processors. The code modules may be stored on any type of computer readable medium or other computer storage device. Some or all of the methods may alternatively be embodied in specified computer hardware. In addition, the components referenced herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof.

  Among other things, conditional languages such as “can”, “could”, “might”, “may”, etc., unless otherwise specified, Certain embodiments include certain features, elements, and / or steps, but other embodiments are otherwise within the context as generally used to suggest not including them. Understood. Accordingly, such conditional languages generally indicate that any feature, element, and / or step is required for one or more embodiments, or one or more embodiments can be Inevitably includes logic to detect whether these features, elements, and / or steps are included or performed in any particular embodiment, with or without input or prompts Is not meant to mean.

  Any process description, element or block in the flow diagrams described herein and / or depicted in the accompanying drawings may be one or more for implementing a particular logical function or element in the process. It should be understood as potentially representing a module, segment, or part of code that contains the executable instructions. Alternative implementations are included within the scope of the embodiments described herein, and elements or functions therein may be deleted depending on the functionality included as will be understood by those skilled in the art. Often, it may be performed in a different order (including substantially simultaneous) from the order shown or discussed, or in the reverse order.

  It should be emphasized that many variations and modifications may be made to the foregoing embodiments, and it should be understood that the elements are among other acceptable examples. All such modifications and changes are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and protected by the following claims.

Claims (7)

In a system for communication between a user and a service agent,
A data store that maintains one or more user interface templates;
A computing device in communication with the data store comprising:
Obtaining from the user a first request for a first user interface that includes an agent status that represents the current availability of one or more service agents with respect to contact with the user;
Obtaining a first user interface template from the data store;
Generating the first user interface including the first user interface template and the agent status obtained from a contact service in communication with one or more service agents;
Providing the first user interface for display to the user;
Providing the user with a contact status representing the state of contact between the user and the service agent via a second type network different from the first type network via the first type network A computing device that operates to
A system comprising: The computing device is
Receiving from the user a second request for contact with a service agent;
Obtaining a second user interface template from the data store;
Generating a second user interface that includes the second user interface template and allows user contact information to be submitted to the computing device;
Further operating to provide the second user interface for display to the user;
The system of claim 1.   The system of claim 1, wherein the agent status is based on availability feedback from the service agent.   The contact between the user and the service agent is performed by one or more of a telephone, email, SMS message, instant messaging, an electronic message issued or posted for viewing by others, and a video message. The system of claim 1. A computer implemented method for facilitating communication between a user and a service agent comprising:
Under the control of one or more configured computer systems,
Requesting a contact service communicating with one or more service agents for an agent status representing a service agent's current availability with respect to communication with the user;
Obtaining a first user interface template stored in the data store;
Generating a first user interface including the first user interface template and the agent status;
Providing the first user interface to the user;
Making a contact request with a service agent, including user contact information;
In response to user contact information submitted to the contact service, via a first type of network, via a second type of network received from the contact service, which is different from the first type of network. Providing the user with a contact status representative of the state of contact between the user and the service agent;
Including the method.   The method of claim 5, wherein the agent status is based at least in part on availability feedback from the service agent.   The contact between the user and the service agent is performed by one or more of a telephone, email, SMS message, instant messaging, an electronic message issued or posted for viewing by others, and a video message. The method according to claim 5.

Images