KR20010087924A - System and method for counsulting with remote consultant - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A system and a method for providing a consultation service with a remote consultant are provided to easily perform a consultation by selecting a consultation type for which a client wishes, connecting the client with consultants, confirming whether a question of the client is stored in a database, and providing an answer. CONSTITUTION: If a client selects a chatting(112), a consultant guide server connects the client with one among consultants connected with a current site(114). If the client inputs a question(116), the server confirms whether the question is stored in a DB(118). If the question is stored in the DB, the server reads the answer(120) and displays the read answer(122). The consultant performs the consultation while the consultant shows the displayed question and answer, and performs the chatting(124). If the question is not stored in the DB, the consultant consults while performing the chatting(126), and stores the question and answer of the consulted content in the DB(128).

Description

System and method for providing consultation service with remote counselor {System and method for counsulting with remote consultant}

The present invention relates to a consultation service providing system, and more particularly, to a consultation service providing system and method with a remote counselor.

In recent years, the number of sites that provide customer service through the Internet has been increasing in terms of customer service. However, most sites receive questions from users by e-mail, review the received e-mails, and send a reply e-mail to the user.

However, these e-mail methods have a problem that it takes a lot of time, such as generally takes two to three days to get a description of the user inquiries.

There was also the inconvenience of having to open the email again to see the answer to his question.

On the other hand, there are also Internet sites that provide telephone counseling services, which is a hassle for computer users to disconnect from the Internet and make phone calls. In addition, since the counselor has to explain to the user one by one, there was an inconvenience that the telephone call becomes long.

On the other hand, companies that currently provide counseling services have several or several dozen counselors gathered in a certain place to receive and receive calls from customers.

Therefore, they needed a place where counselors could work, and because companies had to pay office rents, it was a cause of inability to reduce counseling fees.

In addition, many counselors are currently women. Married women often quit their jobs due to difficulties in commuting while experiencing housekeeping, childcare, pregnancy, or childbirth. There was also a problem that the counseling history was lost.

Therefore, a counseling system has been required for counselors to adjust their counseling methods to suit their own equipment and circumstances, and to provide counselors anywhere in any location.

An object of the present invention, in order to solve the above problems, the customer can select his or her desired counseling method from the telephone, bulletin board, chat, the remote counselors and customers are connected, the counselors ask the customer questions If it is confirmed that it is stored in the database, the answer is provided, thus providing a counseling service providing system with remote counselors that counselors can easily consult.

Another object of the present invention, to solve the above problems, to provide a method of providing a consultation service with a remote counselor that can be performed in the system.

1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a computer network system to which the present invention is applied.

2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a database stored in a server according to the present invention.

3 is a view showing a consultation process when a customer asks a computer in the present invention.

4 is a view showing a consultation process when a customer asks a question by telephone in the present invention.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a consultation process when a customer asks a bulletin board and an ARS in the present invention.

In order to achieve the above object, in a counseling service providing system using a network in which a customer consults using a communication device, a list of counselors who can consult with the customer is registered, and the question already inquired by the customer is stored with the explanation. Database; The customer who requested the consultation is connected to an agent computer in the counselor list, and when the customer enters a question, checks whether the entered question is registered in the database, and if it is registered, an answer corresponding to the question. It is provided with a consultation service providing system using a network, characterized in that the withdrawal from the database to display the withdrawn answers to the counselor computer; and a counselor computer for providing answers to the customer.

In order to achieve the above another object, a method of providing a counseling service by connecting a communication device of a customer and a plurality of agent computers and servers using a network, the method comprising: Registering and classifying the questions already inquired by the customer into detailed descriptions according to the fields of the questions together with explanations thereof and storing them in the database of the server; (b) connecting a client computer connected to a server and a counselor computer; (c) prompting the customer to enter a question; (d) checking whether the input question is registered in a database, and if it is registered, withdrawing the answer corresponding to the question from a database and displaying the retrieved answer on a counselor computer; And (e) is provided a method of providing a consultation service using a network comprising the step of providing an answer to the customer.

Next, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a computer network system to which the present invention is applied.

1, an embodiment of a consultation service providing system according to the present invention includes a customer computer 10, a customer telephone 12, a counselor computer 20, a server computer 22, a PSTN network, an Internet network, and a VoIP gateway. It includes.

In addition, the server computer 22 includes a web server 24, an agent connection server 26, a chat server 28, a UMS server 32, a VoIP server 34, an NMS server 36, and a database 30. Include.

In the present invention, the Internet 30 refers to a computer communication network connecting the world using the Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP / IP) protocol.

The server generally refers to software that provides a web service in an environment connected to the Internet 18, but is used in the present invention as a concept including a computer system that executes the software.

The server 22 is a computer provided in the company providing the consultation service according to the present invention, and the customer computer 10 and the customer telephone 12 are used by the person who wants to receive the consultation service from the server 22.

On the other hand, the customer computer 10 may be connected to another site that provides a service on the Internet, such as a shopping mall computer 32 or a financial institution computer 34, separately from the server computer 14.

The customer may use the telephone receiver 12 or the computer 10 which can be chat with a headset and a sound board.

When the customer uses a telephone, the telephone number is connected to the server 22 to make a call. Then, the voice signal input from the customer telephone 12 is transmitted through a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) 14 and voice data according to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) through the VoIP gateway 16. Is converted to a server and transmitted to the server via the Internet 18 in a TCP / IP manner.

The server 22 then establishes a communication channel between the customer computer 10 and the counselor terminal 20.

The counselor computer 20 can connect to the web with a unique ID and password, and can consult anywhere. In addition, the counselor computer 20 is provided with a program and hardware that converts the voice data transmitted through the Internet 18 into a voice signal and outputs the voice signal.

Therefore, the counselor can hear the customer's question by voice signal from his computer 20.

The counselor computer 20 and the server 22 are preferably connected by a dedicated line.

On the other hand, when the customer uses his computer 10, launching a web browser on his computer 10, input the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of the server 22 to the server 22 through the Internet 18 Connected with.

The customer may select whether to consult with the counselor computer 20 by chat or leave a question in the bulletin board.

If the chat is selected, the server 22 connects the customer computer 10 to the counselor computer. In order to chat, both the customer computer 10 and the agent computer 20 should be provided with a headset and a sound board.

In addition, the customer computer 10 and the agent computer 20 may read a web browser (Hypertext Markup Language) document, which is a standard document of the web, and use a web browser, which is software that can communicate with a server using a common gateway interface (CGI). Equipped.

The server 22 includes a web server 24, an agent connection server 26, a chat server 28, a database 30, a UMS server 32, a VoIP server 34, and an NMS server 36.

Here, the web server 24 is to connect the server to the Internet, the agent connection server 26 is a server that connects the customer requesting the consultation to the agent computer 20 and the Internet.

The chat server 28 connects the customer computer 10 and the agent computer 20 when they want to chat, and chats the Internet using IRC (Internet Relay Chatting).

UMS (Unified Messaging System) server 32 is a server using an integrated messaging system, the agent computer 20 to send a voice message to the customer using a general telephone network (PSTN).

The NMS (Network Management System) server 36 monitors the network state, and monitors the communication connection state between the agent computer and the customer.

Therefore, even if the agent is remote, it is possible to check whether the customer and the agent are properly connected.

The database 30 stores F & Q (questions and answers) in advance, and is continuously updated whenever new questions and answers are added. In addition, the agent list and state are stored.

2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a database stored in a server.

2A shows an agent database and FIG. 2B shows a question and answer database.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the counselor DB records a list of counselors, their telephone numbers, email addresses, specialty fields, consultation hours, and the like.

Hereinafter, the operation of the present invention will be described in detail.

3 is a diagram illustrating a consultation process when a customer asks a computer.

First, the customer accesses the homepage of the site providing the consultation service according to the present invention (110). Then, the customer can choose the type of counseling that he / she wants, either via chat or bulletin board.

If the customer selects chat (112), the agent delivery server 26 connects the customer with any one of the agents currently connected to the site (114). Agent computers are computers that agents use while they are remote.

When the customer enters a question (116), the server checks if the customer asks in the DB (118).

If the question is in the DB, the answer is retrieved from the DB (120) and displayed on the agent computer (122).

The counselor consults while watching a question and answer displayed on his computer (124).

However, if the question is not in the DB, the counselor consults while chatting (126), and stores the question and answer of his or her consultation in a database (128).

On the other hand, when the customer selects a bulletin board (130), the customer enters his question on the bulletin board (132).

4 is a diagram illustrating a consultation process when a customer asks a question by phone.

First, the customer dials the company providing the service according to the present invention using the toll service (202). Then, through the VoIP gateway (204), the customer's voice signal is digitized and transmitted over the Internet.

Then, the counseling agent delivery server 26 checks whether there is a counselor who can connect the customer among the counselors who are currently connected to the site (206).

If the counselors are all on the phone and there are no counselors who are currently available for consultation, they ask if they want to record a question (208).

So, if the customer wants to record the question, the question is recorded with the ARS (210).

On the other hand, the consultable server computer checks whether there is an available counselor among the counselors currently connected to the server (206).

Therefore, the counselor selects one of the counselors who can consult and connects the counselor and the customer (212).

If the agent is connected to the counselor (212), the customer enters a question (214).

Then, it is checked whether the customer's question is in the DB (216), the answer is withdrawn from the DB (218), and displayed on the agent computer (220).

The counselor responds to the consultation while viewing the answers displayed on his computer (222), so that the counselor can consult more easily and effectively.

On the other hand, if the customer's question is not in the DB, the counselor responds to the consultation (224), and stores the question and answer in the DB (226).

On the other hand, questions posted by the customer on the bulletin board and questions recorded by the ARS is provided to the customer answers to the question through the following process.

5 is a flowchart showing a consultation process when a customer asks a bulletin board and an ARS.

The server retrieves the question recorded by the bulletin board and the ARS (302), and transmits the question to the counselor (304).

If the agent receives the question (306), the agent checks whether the customer's question is in the DB (308), withdraws the answer from the DB (316), and sends the answer to the UMS (318).

On the other hand, if the customer's question is not in the DB, the agent enters the answer (310), and transmits the answer to the UMS (312). The question and answer are stored in the DB (314).

So far I looked at the center of the preferred embodiment for the present invention. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention can be implemented in a modified form without departing from the essential features of the present invention.

For example, in the present invention, only the chat is mentioned, but if the customer and the counselor are provided with the equipment necessary for the video chat, for example, a PC camera, a headset, etc., the video chat between the customer and the counselor may be possible.

Therefore, the disclosed embodiments should be considered in descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. The scope of the present invention is shown in the claims rather than the foregoing description, and all differences within the scope will be construed as being included in the present invention.

According to the present invention, a customer can select his or her desired counseling method from a telephone, a bulletin board, or a chat, and if a remote agent is connected to the customer, the agent checks whether the customer's question is stored in a database. Since the answer is provided, a counseling service providing system and method for providing a counselor with a remote counselor to facilitate counseling are provided, and have the following effects.

Customers can ask questions by phone, chat, and bulletin boards by phone and computer at their convenience.

And, since it is possible to connect to a remote counselor on the Internet, there is no need for counselors to gather in a certain place to consult.

In addition, it is possible to operate as an integrated system instead of supporting each individual type such as ARS, CTI, and bulletin board.

On the other hand, because the contents of questions and answers are stored in the DB, you can quickly respond to customers, and provide accurate information in a short time, so you can get the impression of customers.

In addition, the counselor can work from home so that the retiree can be actively used.

In addition, since all the questions of the customer and the counselor's response to it are built into the DB, the DB can be used for counselor training, so that it can be immediately applied to practical practice with only a short training on personnel changes and recruitment.

Meanwhile, the DB constructed as described above can be marketed.

And, if a customer uploads the consultation contents through the bulletin board, they can receive the voice without having to access the Internet again.

Claims (9)

In the consultation service providing system using a network in which a customer consults using a communication device, A database that registers a list of counselors who can consult with the customer, and stores a question already asked by the customer with a description; The customer who requested the consultation is connected to an agent computer in the counselor list, and when the customer enters a question, checks whether the entered question is registered in the database, and if it is registered, an answer corresponding to the question. A server for fetching from the database and displaying the fetched answer on a counselor computer; And Counseling service providing system using a network, characterized in that the agent computer to provide a response to the customer. The method of claim 1, The customer may request consultation at least using a telephone and a computer, System for providing a consultation service using a network, characterized in that a question is input using at least one of a telephone call, recording using ARS, chatting, and a bulletin board. The method of claim 1, Agent computer is assigned a unique ID and password, so you can consult with users anywhere. Counseling service providing system using a network, characterized in that to provide an answer using at least one of a telephone call, UMS, chat. The method of claim 1, And when the new question is input from the customer, the database is updated by storing the question and answer. In a method of providing a consultation service by connecting a communication device of a customer and a plurality of agent computers and servers using a network, (a) registering a list of counselors who can consult with customers by their respective fields of interest, and classifying the questions already inquired by the customers into detailed descriptions according to the fields of the questions together with explanations thereof and storing them in a database of the server; (b) connecting a client computer connected to a server with an agent computer; (c) prompting the customer to enter a question; (d) checking whether the input question is registered in a database, and if it is registered, withdrawing the answer corresponding to the question from a database and displaying the retrieved answer on a counselor computer; And (e) providing a counseling service using a network comprising the steps of providing an answer to a customer. The method of claim 5, wherein step (c) At least The customer speaking a question while on the phone; The customer recording the question using ARS; Inputting a question in a chat form with an agent computer; And Consulting service providing method using a network, characterized in that any one of the steps to put a question on the bulletin board. The method of claim 5, wherein step (e) At least Providing an answer while the counselor is on the phone; The counselor providing an answer as voice data using the UMS; And Method of providing a consultation service using a network, characterized in that any one of the steps of providing an answer in the form of a customer computer and chat. The method of claim 5, wherein in step (d) If the question is registered in the database, the counselor provides an answer service to the customer while looking at the answer displayed on his computer. The method of claim 3, wherein in step (d) If the question is not registered in the database, the counselor provides an answer to the customer, and then stores the question and answer in the database, thereby updating the database. Way.