KR20020076037A - Method for providing Client Consultation Service using Instant Messenger - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A customer counselling service method through an instant messenger is provided to display the counselling possibility through the instant messenger and connect a customer with a counselor at real time. CONSTITUTION: A wireless terminal(11) is a terminal, such as a cellular phone, a PDA(Personal Digital Assistant), a notebook, capable of performing a data communication by wireless. A wire terminal(12) is terminal, such as a personal computer(PC) capable of performing a data communication by wire. A gateway(13) plays a role that the wireless terminal(11) is connected to the Internet(14). The gateway(13) is used to a WAP(Wireless Application Protocol) service etc.. The wireless terminal(11) may be connected to the Internet without the gateway(13). The Internet(13) is a network for connecting the respective terminals with each other and a communication environment for a data communication service such as a communication network instant messenger. A server(15) is a computer for providing services and can service to users through the Internet(13).

Description

How to provide customer service through instant messenger {Method for providing Client Consultation Service using Instant Messenger}

The present invention relates to a method of providing a customer counseling service through an instant messenger and a computer-readable recording medium recording a program for realizing the method, and in particular, automatically selects a person who can respond when a customer selects a counseling service in an instant messenger. The present invention relates to a method of providing a customer counseling service through an instant messenger, which is selected and connected to a person in charge, so that customer counseling is performed, and a computer-readable recording medium recording a program for realizing the method.

Brief descriptions of the instant messenger used in the present invention are as follows.

Instant Message, which is used in Instant Messanger, is one of the communication methods on the Internet, which combines e-mail, chat, pager, and multi-party simultaneous call functions. It is also called 'Internet Note Service' in Korea.

E-mail cannot be delivered until the other person opens it, but an instant message pops up on the other person's screen as soon as it is sent. In other words, you can communicate in real time like chat or phone.

Instant messages can send and receive messages in real time on the Internet, and can immediately check whether they receive them, and overcomes the limited e-mail function of real-time conversation.

The service lets you specify a buddy list of people you want to communicate with, and lets them know if they're connected to the Internet.

Based on this, the prior art will be described.

In a company that has customers, it does not end up providing a set of products or services and a relationship with the customer. These customers have a steady relationship through customer support such as after-sales service and consultation, and can lead to the provision of other products or services. Therefore, customer support occupies an important position in the company's position.

The company's customer support did not actually use the company's products or services, but may be available to those who may use it in the future.

In the past, support was provided through customer service centers and service centers located offline, and customer support was provided by telephone.

However, with the development of online communication such as PC (Personal Computer) communication and the Internet, customer support has been achieved through online data communication.

Online customer support was provided on a company / product-focused website, where customer support was provided through bulletin boards and e-mail.

This online customer support is available in real time and is easily accessible by many unspecified users, and is walking along the path of online activation, but it does not bring satisfactory feedback from the customer's point of view. there was.

In the case of online customer support, it is necessary to go to the bulletin board of the site once again to check the result, rather than the customer knowing the immediate result when the opinion is expressed through the bulletin board of the website. There were frequent problems.

The quick response from the website does not mean that the customer support staff always looks at the specific bulletin board and checks the changed contents, and even if the customer support representative receives the customer's opinion written on the bulletin board by mail, the customer cannot always concentrate on the mail. There was a problem that support was not easy.

As described above, there was a problem in that the customer support staff always focused on the mail, and the customer did not know whether the mail sent by the customer had reached the representative properly.

The same is true of the online consultation service. There's a lot going on online, and one of them is counseling. Counseling services can include a variety of legal and tax advice.

However, in the online consultation service as well as the customer support described above, there was a problem in that it was difficult for the user to obtain satisfactory feedback.

If you look at the existing online consultation service, most of the bulletin board proceeds, the user has a problem to visit the bulletin board of the site to ask questions, and then go back to the bulletin board of the site to check whether the answer to their questions.

Of course, in some cases, the user's question may be answered by e-mail. However, even if the response is sent by e-mail, the response is often delayed due to the circumstances of the service provider. There was a problem that sometimes caused the e-mail to be confirmed late.

In other words, it is difficult for the user to post a question on the bulletin board and check the time it takes for the person in charge of the service provider to check the contents of the consultation. There was a problem.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, a method of providing a customer counseling service through an instant messenger that displays the availability of a consultation through an instant messenger and connects a customer and a counselor in real time; It is an object of the present invention to provide a computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for realizing the method.

1 is an exemplary configuration diagram of a network system to which the present invention is applied.

2 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a method for providing a customer service through an instant messenger according to the present invention.

3 is a flowchart illustrating another embodiment of a method for providing a customer service through an instant messenger according to the present invention.

* Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings

11: wireless terminal 12: wired terminal

13: Gateway 14: Internet

15: server

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method of providing a customer counseling service applied to an instant messenger system, wherein the instant messenger server receives a request from a user and delivers information of a service provider providing a customer counseling service. Registering the service provider in a buddy list of an instant messenger to be used; A second step of causing the instant messenger server to check whether at least one customer service representative of the service provider is available for consultation, and to display the on-line state of the service provider in the buddy list; And the instant messenger server confirms the customer counseling request sent from the user to the service provider, checks the status of the customer counselor on the service provider, and selects a customer counselor who can respond to the customer counseling service. It comprises a third step of providing.

The present invention also provides an instant messenger system including a processor to receive information from a service provider providing a customer service by receiving a request from a user and to register the service provider in a buddy list of an instant messenger used by the user. First function; A second function of checking whether at least one customer service representative on the service provider side is available for consultation and displaying an on-line state of the service provider on the buddy list; And a third function of checking a customer counseling request sent from the user to the service provider and checking the status of the customer counselor of the service provider to select a customer counselor who can respond to providing the customer counseling service to the user. A computer readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for realizing the present invention is provided.

The above objects, features and advantages will become more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is an exemplary configuration diagram of a network system to which the present invention is applied.

The instant messenger is generally serviced in an environment in which a user who uses a terminal such as a laptop or a PC can access a communication network such as the Internet. However, the use of the Internet can now be made without distinction between wired and wireless, and as an example thereof, a network system as shown in FIG. 1 may be configured.

The network system to which the present invention is applied includes a wireless terminal 11, a wired terminal 12, a gateway 13, the Internet 14, and a server 15.

The wireless terminal 11 represents a terminal capable of data communication via wireless, and may be a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop, or the like.

The wired terminal 12 represents a terminal capable of data communication via a wired line, and in general, a personal computer (PC) may be exemplified.

The gateway 13 relays the wireless terminal 11 to be connected to the Internet 14 and is used in a WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) service. The wireless terminal 11 does not necessarily use the gateway 13. In the wireless Internet service through the wireless terminal 11, there is also a service for directly accessing the Internet without a gateway.

The Internet 14 refers to a network connecting a plurality of different terminals and networks, and may be referred to as a communication environment that enables a data communication service such as a communication instant messenger.

The server 15 is a computer that provides a service, and may provide a service to an unspecified number through the Internet 14. In the instant messenger service, there is an instant messenger server to provide a service.

Referring to the present invention made on such a network system as follows.

The present invention, through the introduction of the 'direct connection method' of the customer service in the form of 'bulletin board' operating in the company / product introduction-oriented website of the offline company to enable efficient customer satisfaction.

When a user downloads and installs an instant messenger (IM) provided by an offline company's website, a buddy list to be connected to a customer support center is automatically installed.

The instant messenger used by the user is the same as the existing instant messenger except for the above description.

When a user who has installed such an instant messenger requests a connection to a customer support / consultation center, an instant messenger (IM) server selects a person who can respond at present and delivers a message from the user to the person in charge.

For example, if there are a number of people who handle customer support and consultation, the IM server selects a specific person and delivers the message.

Therefore, a buddy list that appears in a user's instant messenger will be displayed on-line if any one of the contacts is connected, and if it is not at all, it will be offline and offline. When a message is sent to the customer support / consultation center in the line state, the message is delivered when any contact person is connected and returned to the on-line state.

The instant messenger may be provided to the user in a slightly different manner. In other words, the instant messenger service provider allows a user to select a company that is affiliated or registered when adding a buddy list. Through this, the company registered by the user is displayed on the buddy list, and when the consultation is possible, the company is brought online.

In other words, when an instant messenger user selects a company / service to be supported / consulted from a list of affiliate / registered companies provided by a website linked to an instant messenger, it is automatically registered in a buddy list. In the state of registration, if only one of a plurality of persons can use instant messenger as described above, it is displayed on-line in a buddy list, and a consumer can send a message. .

Here, one step further, the user may send a text message (Short Message) to the mobile terminal of the person in charge via an instant messenger, or may perform a telephone connection with the person in charge. Specifically, the insurance company / automobile company, such as urgent request or in the case of sales inquiries (-salesperson) can be made to automatically make a telephone connection to the mobile terminal (Mobile Terminal).

In summary, the present invention can be displayed as a company name on the buddy list to enable customer support and consultation through instant messenger. Although it is displayed as a company name but there may be a number of persons, the instant messenger server selects a person according to a given condition and delivers the message in case of user's message transmission.

At this time, the method of connecting with the person in charge via instant messenger is not only a message delivery but also a phone connection through the person's communication device, a chat connection provided by the instant messenger, and converts an instant message into a short message and delivers it to the person's mobile phone. Video communication connections, and the like. In addition to this, various things that can be done through instant messenger can be made in connection with the customer support and counselor according to the present invention.

The present invention as described above allows a user to easily receive a customer service while utilizing the existing instant messenger service. An embodiment of the present invention having such a feature will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a method for providing a customer service through an instant messenger according to the present invention.

First, the instant messenger (IM) server confirms an event occurrence (201), and analyzes (202) what event has occurred.

As a result of analyzing what has occurred, if a request for adding a company to a buddy list is received from a user who uses an instant messenger, the company information is transferred to the buddy list by the user's instant messenger (203). . That is, the user selects a company from the add buddy list setting window or a web page to receive customer consultation. Then, the instant messenger server checks this, provides information to be placed on the user's buddy list, and the server records that the company has been added to the user's buddy list.

The instant messenger of the user who has received the buddy list additional information from the instant messenger server adds the requested company to the buddy list and presents it to the user (204).

If the instant messenger server analyzes what event has occurred, if the customer service representative of the company providing the customer service is connected to the instant messenger, check whether there is an existing customer service representative of the same company. 205).

As a result of the check, if there is a customer contact person of the same company, the instant messenger server manages the connection status of the company's customer contact person as an administrative point, and the user's instant messenger who put the company on the buddy list is already online, so the change value Does not pass. Of course, this is not a situation in which a specific client counselor is connected, but rather in a situation where there may be a large number of client counselors on behalf of the company as described above. Depending on the service provider or the company's settings, the user may know whether or not each customer contact is connected.

After checking whether there is an existing customer service representative of the same company, and if there is no customer service representative of the same company, the instant messenger server records that the customer service representative is connected, and the instant messenger of the user who put the company on the buddy list. To notify that the company has been online (206).

The instant messenger of the user who is notified by the instant messenger server that the company has been changed to the online state changes the connection state of the company to the online state in the buddy list and presents it to the user (207).

If the instant messenger server analyzes what event has occurred and the customer service representative of the company providing the customer service is disconnected from the instant messenger, check whether the other customer service representative of the company is connected to the instant messenger server. (208).

As a result of the check, if another customer service representative of the company is in a connected state, the instant messenger server records and manages the disconnection of the customer service representative, and does not transmit the change value to the user instant messenger who put the company on the buddy list.

If the other customer service representative of the company is connected to the instant messenger server and the other customer service representatives of the same company are not connected, the instant messenger server records the disconnection of the customer service representative, and the company's customers Since there is no contact person who is in a connected state among the counselors, the instant messenger of the user who uploads the company to the buddy list notifies that the company is offline (209).

The instant messenger of the user who is notified that the company has been changed to the offline state by the instant messenger server changes the connection state of the company to the offline state in the buddy list and presents it to the user (210).

As a result of the analysis of the instant messenger server of what occurred, if the user transmits a message to the company, it is determined whether the company is online (211). In this case, the user transmits a message to the company, which means that the user transmits a message to receive customer consultation through an instant messenger, and there may be a request for connection with the company through another service provided by the instant messenger. .

As a result of the instant messenger server determining whether the company is online, if the company is online, it is checked whether there is only one customer contact person of the company connected to the instant messenger server (212).

As a result of the check, if there is not only one contact person in the connected state, the instant messenger server selects a contact person to receive a message from the user according to the given condition (213), and delivers the message sent by the user to the selected customer contact person. (214). Here, the selection of the customer counselor is made according to the conditions entered by the service provider or the company. For example, there may be a service processing order of a customer service representative, a condition of a caller, or the like, and the server may be randomly selected.

As a result of checking whether there is only one customer contact person of the connected company, if there is only one customer contact person connected, the user's message is transferred to the customer service person in the connected state (214).

Based on the user's message, it is determined whether the company to be received is online. If it is not online, the instant messenger server stores the message from the user and delivers the archived message when the customer contact person connects the instant messenger. (215).

Delivering messages to a customer advisor can be done sequentially under several conditions. That is, it is possible to deliver all the messages stored in the offline state to the relevant person, but the archived messages are sequentially delivered in consideration of the processing condition of the customer counseling person. In addition, even if the customer service representatives are online, if the customer service manager is changed to BUSY due to processing a message from the customer, the customer service message is not delivered. can do.

3 is a flowchart illustrating another embodiment of a method for providing a customer service through an instant messenger according to the present invention.

The instant messenger server is requested from the user to provide an instant messenger capable of customer consultation of a specific company (301), and provides corresponding instant messenger installation data (302). Through this, an instant messenger is installed in the user's terminal, and the corresponding company is registered in a buddy list of the installed instant messenger.

The instant messenger server confirms the occurrence of the event (303), and analyzes (304) what event has occurred.

If the instant messenger server analyzes what event has occurred, if the customer service representative of the company providing the customer service is connected to the instant messenger, check whether there is an existing customer service representative of the same company. 305).

As a result of the check, if there is a customer counselor of the same company, the instant messenger server records and manages the connection state of the customer counselor of the company, and does not transmit a change value because the user instant messenger is already online.

After checking whether there is an existing customer service representative of the same company, if there is no customer service representative of the same company, the instant messenger server records and manages that the customer service representative is connected, and the user is online with the user's instant messenger. Notify that the state has been reached (306).

The instant messenger of the user who is notified by the instant messenger server that the company has been changed to the online state changes the connection state of the company to the online state and presents it to the user (307).

In addition, the instant messenger server delivers the message stored in the offline state to the customer service representative who is online (308). At this time, the delivery of the message may occur unconditionally, but is appropriately made according to the given conditions.

If the instant messenger server analyzes what event has occurred and the customer service representative of the company providing the customer service is disconnected from the instant messenger, check whether the other customer service representative of the company is connected to the instant messenger server. (309).

As a result of the check, if another customer service representative of the company is in the connected state, the instant messenger server records and manages the termination of the customer service representative.

If the other customer service representative of the company is connected to the instant messenger server and the other customer service representatives are not connected, the instant messenger server records the disconnection of the customer service representative, and among the customer service representatives of the company. Since there is no contact person in the connected state, the instant messenger of the user who uploads the company to the buddy list notifies that the company is offline (310).

The instant messenger of the user who is notified that the company has been changed to the offline state by the instant messenger server changes the connection state of the company to the buddy list and presents it to the user (311).

If the instant messenger server analyzes what event has occurred, it is determined whether the company is in an online state if it is a customer consultation request from the user (311).

As a result of the determination, if the company is online, a customer counseling officer is selected to respond to the customer counseling request from the user (313), and the user is connected to the selected customer counselor (314). Here, if a plurality of customer service representatives are online, the processing is selectively performed as described above.

As a result of determining whether the company is online, if the company is not online, it is checked whether or not the company is set to connect to a customer service representative when the customer requests a consultation offline. Here, the call connection may be a call connection to the mobile phone of the customer service representative, or may be a phone connection. In this case, the user may be connected by a voice chat method, or may be a method in which a customer service representative calls a phone number of the user.

After checking whether it is set to call the customer service representative, if the call connection is set, select a customer service representative to connect with the user (316), and make a call connection between the selected customer service representative and the user. (317).

If it is determined that the call is set to call the customer service representative, and the call is not set to call, the message left by the customer is stored so that the caller can provide a message when the call is online (318). .

As described above, the present invention can be made. In particular, the connection between the customer and the contact person may use a variety of ways to form a message connection between the user in the instant messenger service, there may be a way that the customer service representative contacts the user at the request of the user.

The present invention described above is not limited to the above-described embodiments and the accompanying drawings, and various substitutions, modifications, and changes are possible in the art without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. It will be apparent to those of ordinary knowledge.

The present invention as described above, when the user applies for customer consultation through an instant messenger, by selectively connecting the person who can consult with the user, there is an effect of providing a customer consultation service to the user.

In addition, the present invention, not only the user's request for customer consultation is delivered in real time through an instant messenger, but also the processing is made in real time, there is an effect that can quickly process the consultation desired by the user.

In addition, the present invention, the instant messenger server selects the person who can respond to the current customer consultation request, the user has an effect that can be processed quickly.

In addition, the present invention, if any one of the customer service representatives can be consulted is displayed online on the buddy list of the instant messenger has the effect that the user can immediately know whether the consultation is available.

In addition, the present invention, since the customer counseling is made using the instant messenger, the user remains in the record from the customer counseling application, and if the customer counseling is all made via instant messenger, the consultation details and results also remain in the record and can be confirmed later There is.

Claims (10)

In the customer service providing method applied to the instant messenger system, A first step of receiving, by the instant messenger server, information of a service provider providing a customer service by registering a service provider in a buddy list of an instant messenger used by the user; A second step of causing the instant messenger server to check whether at least one customer service representative of the service provider is available for consultation, and to display the on-line state of the service provider in the buddy list; And The instant messenger server confirms the customer counseling request sent from the user to the service provider, checks the status of the customer counselor on the service provider side, selects a customer counselor who can respond, and provides the customer counseling service to the user. The third step How to provide customer service through an instant messenger comprising a. The method of claim 1, The first step is, A fourth step of receiving a request for providing an instant messenger including information of a desired customer service provider; A fifth step of retrieving instant messenger installation data including information of the service provider desired by the user; And A sixth step of providing the instant messenger installation data to the user via a network so that the user can use the registered instant messenger by the service provider; How to provide customer service through an instant messenger comprising a. The method of claim 1, The first step is, A fourth step, wherein the instant messenger server is requested to add a service provider for providing a customer service to a buddy list of the instant messenger from the user who uses the instant messenger; A fifth step of the instant messenger server confirming the service provider requested from the user; And A sixth step of adding the service provider to the buddy list by transferring the identified information of the service provider to the instant messenger of the user by the instant messenger server; How to provide customer service through an instant messenger comprising a. The method of claim 1, A fourth step of the instant messenger server confirming whether customer service through the instant messenger is possible at the service provider; A fifth step of notifying the instant messenger to indicate that the service provider is online in a buddy list of the instant messenger if at least one customer counseling officer of the service provider capable of customer consultation is available as a result of the checking of the fourth step; And A sixth step of notifying the instant messenger to indicate that the service provider is offline in a buddy list of the instant messenger if there is no customer counselor of the service provider capable of consulting with the customer as a result of the fourth step; How to provide customer service through an instant messenger comprising a. The method of claim 1, The second step, The instant messenger server confirms that the customer service representative of the service provider is changed to a state in which a consultation is possible, and grasps the state of another customer service representative of the service provider, and if the consultation is not possible, the service provider with the instant messenger. A fourth step of notifying that the side has been changed to online; And The instant messenger server confirms that the customer service representative of the service provider is changed to a state in which it is not possible to consult, and grasps the state of the other customer service representative of the service provider. A fifth step of notifying that the service provider side has been changed to an offline state How to provide customer service through an instant messenger comprising a. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, Claim 3, A seventh step of confirming, by the instant messenger server, a customer consultation request from the user's instant messenger to the service provider; An eighth step of the instant messenger server checking a state of a customer service representative of the service provider; As a result of the check in the eighth step, if there is no person in charge of handling the customer consultation on the service provider side, the user keeps the request for customer consultation and delivers the request of the user when the customer consultation is possible on the service provider side. 9 steps; And As a result of the check in the eighth step, if the service provider can handle the customer consultation, a customer counselor who can respond to the customer consultation request of the user is selected based on a predetermined condition, and the customer consultation service is provided to the user. Providing the 10th Step How to provide customer service through an instant messenger comprising a. The method of claim 6, The ninth step, An eleventh step of checking whether the customer counseling service provider has a predetermined history of the customer counseling request received in the absence of the person in charge who can process the customer counseling through an instant messenger; A twelfth step of processing, by the instant messenger server, a customer consultation request according to a preset history when the check result of the eleventh step includes a preset history for the customer consultation request in the absence of time; And A thirteenth step in which the instant messenger server records and manages the customer consultation request information of the user in a database, when there is no preset description of the customer consultation request in the absence of the eleventh step; And The instant messenger server may transfer the customer counseling request information, which is being managed in the database, to the customer counselor when the customer counselor of the service provider is available for consultation. How to provide customer service through an instant messenger comprising a. The method of claim 7, wherein The preset details, Method of providing a customer consultation service through an instant messenger, characterized in that the telephone connection with the customer service representative, mobile connection, text message notification for processing the customer service request received in the absence of the customer service representative. The method of claim 6, The tenth step is An eleventh step of checking whether there is more than one contact person capable of handling the customer consultation if there is a contact person who can process the customer consultation through an instant messenger at the customer service provider; A twelfth step of delivering a customer counseling service by delivering a user consultation request of the user to the representative, if there is more than one representative who can handle the customer consultation as a result of the eleventh step; And As a result of the inspection of the eleventh step, if there is more than one contact person who can handle the customer consultation, the predetermined condition is checked to select a contact person and deliver the customer consultation request of the user to the contact person to provide a customer consultation service. The thirteenth step How to provide customer service through an instant messenger comprising a. In an instant messenger system having a processor, A first function of receiving a request from a user, delivering information of a service provider providing a customer service, and registering the service provider in a buddy list of an instant messenger used by the user; A second function of checking whether at least one customer service representative on the service provider side is available for consultation and displaying an on-line state of the service provider on the buddy list; And A third function of checking a customer counseling request sent from the user to the service provider and checking the status of the customer counselor of the service provider to select a customer counselor who can respond to providing the customer counseling service to the user A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for realizing this.