SE2151302A1 - SETTING-UP A VoIP COMMUNICATION SESSION BASED ON USER INTERACTION WITH A WEB SERVER - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention concerns a device (14), system (10), method, computer program and computer program product for providing support of a user (30) exploring a web site provided by a web server (12). The device (14) implements user supporting functionality (15) configured to analyse activities of the user (30) on the web site during an interaction session and to set up a Voice-over-IP (VoIP) communication session between the user (30) and a counterpart (32, 34) associated with the web site based on the analysis.

Description

lO SETTING-UP A VoIP COMMUNICATION SESSION BASED ON USER INTERACTION WITH A WEB SERVER TECHNICAL FIELD The invention relates to a device, system, method, computer program and computer program product for providing support of a user exploring a web site.

BACKGROUND A user that explores a web site may as an example be interested in purchasing a product or service or to obtain additional information about a product or service. If desiring more information, he or she may initiate a communication session with the web site provider. Such a communication session may then be made to a person that has insufficient knowledge about the product or service. The user may in this case have to have the communications session being forwarded or may him- or herself need to input further information in order to reach a person with the required knowledge. Alternatively, the web site provider may have insufficient staff for being able to timely engage in communication sessions, which may lead to the user having to wait or not being helped at all.

There is therefore a need for improving the way communication sessions are being set up between a user that explores a web site and a counterpart associated with the web site and with which the user desires to communicate.

Aspects of the invention address this.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One object of the invention is therefore to simplify for a user that explores a web site to get support.

This object is according to a first aspect achieved by a device for providing support of a user exploring a web site provided by a web server, which device comprises a processor acting on computer instructions whereby the device is operative to implement support providing functionality configured to: analyse activities of the user on the web site during an interaction session, and lO set up a Voice-over-IP (VoIP) communication session between the user and a counterpart associated with the web site based on the analysis.

The object is according to a second aspect achieved through a system providing support of a user, the system comprising a web server providing a web site which the user may explore and a user supporting functionality, the user supporting functionality being configured to: analyse activities of the user on the web site during an interaction session, and set up a Voice-over-IP (VoIP) communication session between the user (30) and a counterpart associated with the web site based on the analysis.

The object is according to a third aspect achieved through a method for providing support of a user exploring a web site provided by a web server, the method comprising: - analysing activities of the user on the web site during an interaction session, and - setting up a Voice-over-IP (VoIP) communication session between the user and a counterpart associated with the web site based on the analysis.

The method may be carried out by user supporting functionality, which user supporting functionality may be provided in a device and/ or a system for providing support to a user.

The user supporting functionality may additionally be spread out over different nodes, such as the web server, the VoIP server and the VoIP client.

The object is according to a fourth aspect further achieved through a computer program for providing support of a user exploring a web site provided by a web server, the computer program comprising computer program code which when run in a processor of a device providing support for the user, causes the device to: analyse activities of the user on the web site during an interaction session, and set up a Voice-over-IP (VoIP) communication session between the user and a counterpart associated with the web site based on the analysis.

The object is according to a fifth aspect further achieved through a computer program product for providing support of a user exploring a web site provided by a web server, the computer program product comprising a data carrier with computer program code according to the fourth aspect. lO The user may be one party of the VoIP communication session and the counterpart may be another party of the VoIP communication session. The user may for instance be a first party of the VoIP communication session and the counterpart may be a second party of the VoIP communication session or vice versa.

The interaction session may be a current interaction session, for which a VoIP communication session is set up in real-time. Alternatively, it may be an earlier interaction session in which the user has been involved. It is additionally possible that the user can be engaged in another communication session with a counterpart associated with the web server during this earlier interaction session, where this communication session may be of a different type than VoIP.

The activities of the user may be activities in the group of: selecting objects representing products or services, placing objects representing products or services in a selection zone, and performing steps in a transaction scheme.

The user activities may additionally comprise selected menu options and number of times that the menu options have been selected and searches performed during the interaction session.

The VoIP communication session may additionally be set up based on how user activities are distributed in time during the interaction session. It is thereby possible that it is set up based on the order in which the user has performed activities during the interaction session.

The analysis can also be based on other factors such as which web page is the starting page of the interaction session, the geographical position of the user, web pages that have been viewed during the interaction session and if the user is an unknown or known recurring visitor, the web history of earlier visits.

It is also possible to consider the case if the user is known or unknown.

For a known user it is additionally possible to analyse the personal data such as address, age, gender. It is also possible to investigate historical user activities on the web site, such as purchase history of the user. The historical user data can in this case include information from earlier VoIP communication sessions and/ or earlier support sessions of other types. lO It is additionally possible to analyse the technology used by the user to connect to web server, such as to analyse the device, web browser and/ or operating system of the device, like browser type and brand, device type and brand and operating system of the device.

It is additionally possible to analyse a path used by the user to reach the web site, such as by links in paid ads, by organic search, by sponsored search, by links at social media websites, by links via email, by links via SMS, by links on other websites or by entering the web address directly in the browser.

It is possible that the setting up of the VoIP communication session is based on one or more of the above-mentioned other factors.

The selection zone and transaction scheme may be part of a web shop provided by the web server. In this case it is additionally possible that the VoIP communication session is set up based on the outcome of comparisons between the users activity on the web site with historical statistical data of transactions using the web shop.

According to a first variation of the first aspect, the device is further configured to analyse the time that the user has spent on the web site in the interaction session.

In a corresponding variation of the third aspect, the method further comprises investigating the time that the user has spent on the web site in the interaction session.

It is then possible that the setting-up of the VoIP communication session is also based on the time the user has spent on the web site.

According to a second variation to the first aspect, the device is further configured to determine a prioritization of the VoIP communication session based on the analysis and the setting up of the VoIP communication session is made using the determined prioritization.

According to a corresponding variation of the third aspect, the method further comprises determining a prioritization of the VoIP communication session based on the analysis and wherein the setting up of the VoIP communication session is made using the determined prioritization. lO According to a third variation of the first aspect, the device is further configured to select the counterpart based on the analysis.

According to a corresponding variation of the third aspect, the method further comprises selecting the counterpart based on the analysis.

The selected counterpart may be a person associated with a type of product or service or a category of products or services corresponding to objects selected by the user in the interaction session.

The objects may be objects in one or more views presented to the user via one or more web pages of the web site, such as in hypertext markup language (HTML) web pages.

The objects may comprise objects placed in the selection zone and/ or objects manipulated by the user for obtaining more information about corresponding products or services.

According to a fourth variation of the first aspect, the device is further configured to offer the user to set up the VoIP communication session and being configured to only set up the VoIP communication session if the user accepts.

According to a corresponding variation of the third aspect, the method further comprises offering the user to set up the VoIP communication session and only setting up the VoIP communication session if the user accepts.

The VoIP communication session may be set up from the user to the counterpart or from the counterpart to the user. If being set up from the counterpart to the user, it is additionally possible that the VoIP communication session is set up automatically from the counterpart to the user.

It is furthermore possible that the VoIP communication session is only set up if a communication session set up initiation criterion is met.

According to a fifth variation of the first aspect, the device when analysing the user activities may in this case analyse if the user activities cause the communication session set up initiation criterion to be met. lO According to a corresponding variation of the third aspect, the method may in this case further comprise analysing if the user activities cause the communication session setup initiation criterion to be met.

The VoIP communication session may be a voice communication session. It is also possible with a video communication session and/or a chat session.

The counterpart may be a person, such as a person in organization or a company associated with the web site. As an alternative the counterpart may be a voice-mail box or a robot.

The invention according to the above-mentioned aspects has a number of advantages. It simplifies the obtaining of support to a user that explores a web site. This is also easy to implement. It can be provided by only using software.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will now be described in more detail in relation to the enclosed drawings, in which: Fig. 1 schematically shows a user, a web client and a VoIP client of the user and a system with which the user interacts, which system comprises a web server, a VoIP server and a first variation of a user supporting device, Fig. 2 schematically shows a second variation of the user supporting device, Fig. 3 schematically shows a number of objects in a selection zone and a number of steps in a transaction scheme, Fig. 4 schematically shows method steps in a first embodiment of a method of supporting the user, Fig. 5 schematically shows a number of method steps in a second embodiment of the method of supporting the user, and Fig. 6 shows a computer program product in the form of a CD ROM disc with a computer program for supporting the user allowing a user to navigate in the menu system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the following description, for purposes of explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth such as particular architectures, interfaces, techniques, etc. in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the lO art that the invention may be practiced in other embodiments that depart from these specific details. In other instances, detailed descriptions of well-known devices, circuits and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the description of the invention with unnecessary details.

The invention is generally directed towards supporting a user that is exploring a web site.

In the following, a detailed description of preferred embodiments of a system, device method, computer program and computer program product for providing support of a user will be given.

Fig. 1 schematically shows a system 10 for supporting a user 30. In the system 10 there is a web server 12 providing a web site. There is also a device providing support of a user, i.e. a support providing device 14, as well as a Voice-over-IP (VoIP) server 22, where IP is an acronym for Internet Protocol. The VoIP server 22 is connected to a piece of communication equipment or communication device 28, which communication device 28 may be a switch such as a private branch exchange or some other entity for receiving calls to and placing calls from extensions of the switch. The communication device 28 may additionally be the communication terminal of a person, such as mobile phone or a computer. It may additionally be a voice mail box associated with a person or an organization providing the web site. The support providing device 14 provides user supporting functionality 15. In the example shown in fig. 1, which is a first realization of the user supporting device, the user supporting functionality 15 comprises a user behaviour analysing unit 16, an optional time investigating unit 18 and a VoIP communication session control unit 20. In fig. 1 the communication device 20 is shows as being a part of the system 10. It should however be realized that it may lil In fig. 1, there is also a Web client 24 belonging to a user U 30 and a VoIP client 26 also belonging to the user 30. The web and VoIP clients 24 and 26 may be parts of a user terminal of the user 30, such as a mobile phone or a computer, and may additionally be a combined Web and VoIP client. The web and VoIP clients 24 and 26 are used by the user 30 for interacting with the system 10.

The user 30 may interact with a web site during an interaction session using the Web client 24, where the web site may be provided by the web server 12 as one or more linked Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) pages. Thereby the user 30 may explore the web site, which may involve navigating the web site and making various selections in it, such as selecting objects lO in one or more views provided by one or more web pages of the web site. It should be relaized that other formats than HTML may be used, such as HTML abstraction markup language (HAML). A VoIP communication session may additionally be set up between the user 30 and a counterpart via the VoIP client 26 and the VoIP server 22, such as a VoIP communication session from a terminal of the user to the communication device 28 via the VoIP client 26 and the VoIP server 22. In this case the user 30 may be one party of the VoIP communication session, such as a first party, and the counterpart may be another party of the VoIP communication session, such as a second party. In fig. 1 there are three possible counterparts, a first counterpart CP1 32, a second counterpart CP2 34 and a third counterpart CP3 36 that can be reached via the communication device 28. In the present example a VoIP communication session is set up between the user 30 and one of the counterparts where the VoIP communications session is set up via the VoIP client 26 and the VoIP server 22. How this may be done will be described in some more detail later on.

Fig. 2 shows a second realization of the user supporting device 14, The user supporting device 14 may be realized as a processor PR 38 with a memory M 40 comprising computer instructions CI 42 for implementing the user supporting functionality 15. In the memory 40 there may thereby be provided software code or computer instructions CI 42 which when being run by the processor 38 implements the user supporting functionality 15.

As was mentioned earlier, the user may interact with a web site provided by the web server 12. Fig. 3 shows a viewV displayed to the user 30 during such an interaction. In the viewV objects that can be manipulated in such interactions are shown. The viewV is thus provided to the user 30 by the web server 12. The user 30 may select objects on the web site and place them in a selection zone SZ, where a selection zone SZ may be a shopping cart. As an example, the user 30 has placed a first object 01, a second object 02, a third object 03 and a fourth object 04 in the selection zone SZ. The objects may additionally represent different services or products, which services or products may be of different types in different categories. If the objects represent products, one may represent the type suits in the category clothes. In the example in fig. 1 the first object 01 represents a first product P1 of a first type T1 in a first category C1, the second object 02 represents a second product P2 of a first type T1 in a second category C2, the third object 03 represents a third product P3 of a second type T2 of the first category C1 and the fourth object 04 represents a fourth product P4 of the first type T1 in the first category C1. It should here be realized that objects may additionally or as an alternative represent services of different types and in different categories. lO The user 30 may additionally be involved in a transaction scheme TS, such as a product purchasing scheme, concerning a transaction regarding the objects placed in the selection zone SZ. The transaction scheme TS has a number of sequential steps. As an example, there is a first step ST1, a second step ST2, a third step ST3 and a fourth and final step ST4. In the figure all steps are represented by dashed boxes. In the example given in fig. 3 the user is currently in the third step TS3, which is indicated through the box of the step being thicker than the boxes of the other steps.

There is also an optional VoIP connection button VCB. This button VCB is provided to the user 30 by the VoIP communication session control unit 20.

Now a first embodiment of a method of supporting the user will be described with reference also being made to fig. 4, which shows two method steps being performed by the user supporting functionality 15.

The user 30 may be involved in an interaction session with the web site provided by the web server 12, which session may be a current session for which a VoIP communication session is set up in real-time. The user 30 may thus be interacting with the web server 12, for instance through selecting objects representing products or services to purchase, where as an example the user has selected the first object 01, the second object 02, the third object 03 and the fourth object 04 and placed them in the selection zone SZ. The user 30 may as an example have clicked on the objects and then placed them in the selection zone SZ. It is additionally possible that the user has investigated a product or service further, for instance through clicking on the corresponding object and getting more information about it. This investigation could have been performed for products represented by the objects in the selection zone, both before and after these objects have been placed in the selection zone SZ, as well as for products represented by objects that have not been placed in the selection zone SZ. The user 30 may additionally remove objects from the selection zone SZ and may also put objects back in the selection zone SZ. Furthermore, the user 30 may be involved in a transaction with regard to the objects or services placed in the selection zone SZ and may thereby be involved with the transaction scheme TS. The transaction scheme TS starts when the user 30 enters the first step ST1. The user 30 may then move sequentially from one step to another. The user may also perform some activity in one or more of the steps. Finally, the user reaches the last step ST4 and when he or she leaves this last step ST4, the transaction scheme TS is finalized and the transaction is finished. When this happens, the products or services represented by the objects in the selection zone SZ have been purchased by the user lO lO . This may also be the end of the interaction session. In the shown example the user is currently performing activities in the third step ST3.

The user behaviour analysing unit 16 of the user supporting device 14 analyses the activities of the user on the web site during the interaction session, S100. The analysis may involve investigating the objects that the user 30 has looked at and selected through placing in the selection zone SZ. It may also involve investigating the number of times the user 30 has looked at an object representing a product or service as well as the length of time during which a user has investigated further information about the product or service. If the objects represent types of products in different categories, the analysis may involve investigating the product type and product category. The analysis may furthermore involve investigating menu selections made by the user on the web site. It is also possible that the order in which the user has performed such activities is investigated. It is thereby possible to investigate the order in which different menu selections have been made, the order in which products or services have been investigated and the order in which objects have been placed in the selection zone SZ. It is also possible to investigate the order in which these different types of activities are performed, such as if a menu selection is made before or after a placing of an object in the selection zone SZ and/ or before or after the investigating further information of a product or service. The analysis may additionally comprise investigating the transaction scheme TS, such as if the user has entered the scheme and if so at which step in the scheme the user presently is. The user activities may thereby be activities in the group of selecting objects representing products or services, placing objects representing products or services in a selection zone, and performing steps in a transaction scheme. It can thereby be seen that the behaviour of the user on the web site is analysed.

Based on the investigation, the VoIP communication session control unit 20 then sets up a VoIP communication session between the user 30 and a counterpart, S102, which counterpart is associated with the website, such as through being a person of an organization that provides the web site.

In order to set up a VoIP communication session, the VoIP communication session control unit 20 may first determine if a communication session could be of interest to the user. This may be based on the setting of a communication session priority for the user. In order to set the priority, the VoIP communication session control unit 20 may investigate the number of objects that have been put in the selection zone SZ. It is possible that the higher the number of objects there are in the selection zone SZ, the higher the priority gets. The products or lO ll services represented by the objects may additionally have values. In this case it is possible that the sum of the values of the products or services in the selection zone influences the priority. It is possible that the higher the sum is the higher the priority gets. It is additionally or instead possible that the step in the transaction scheme TS at which the user is currently located influences the priority. It is possible that the later in the transaction scheme TS the user is, the higher the priority gets, where the highest priority may be obtained when the user is at the fourth step. It is also possible that the priority is determined based on the number of products or services for which further information is investigated and/ or the time during which further information has been investigated for such products or services. It is additionally possible that there is a combination of the above-described measures in order to determine the priority.

The priority may then be compared with a communication session setup initiation criterion, i.e. a criterion for the initiation of a setup of a communication session. A communication session setup procedure is then only initiated if the communication session setup initiation criterion is met. The priority may for instance have a value and the criterion may be met if this value crosses a corresponding communication session setup initiating threshold.

The same or a different priority may furthermore be used for prioritizing the communication session, which prioritizing may be a prioritizing of the communication session with regard to other people that are interacting with the web site or the organization associated with the web site. It is possible that the prioritizing is only based on the number and/ or values of objects in the selection zone SZ and/ or the step in the transaction scheme TS at which the user 30 is currently located. The prioritizing may involve setting up a VoIP communication session between the user 30 and a counterpart outside of business hours and/or the setting up of the VoIP communication session before other communication sessions with no or lower priorities than the priority of the VoIP communication session of the user 30.

In addition to or instead of prioritizing the VoIP communication session, the VoIP communication session control unit 20 may select a counterpart to the user 30 in the VoIP communication session. The VoIP communication session control unit 20 may thus determine the other party of the VoIP communication session. It is possible that the selection is based on the number of objects in the selection zone SZ that represent products or services of a certain type or a certain category. It is also possible that the time a user has looked at further information of an object or has toggled back and forth between the object and the further information is investigated. Based on this investigation it is possible that a person is lO 12 selected to be a counterpart, which person is associated with the type or the category of products or services corresponding to objects selected by the user in the interaction session where the objects may be objects in one or more views presented to the user via one or more web pages of the web site. The objects may additionally comprise objects placed in the selection zone and/ or objects manipulated by the user for obtaining more information about corresponding products or services.

The connection used for the VoIP communication session may be set up from the counterpart to the user 30 or it may be set up from the user 30 to the counterpart. In both cases the VoIP communication session control unit 20 may present the option of setting up of a VoIP communication session for the user through presenting the VoIP communication button VCB, which presentation is thus done after the determination that a VoIP communication session could be of interest, and possibly also after having prioritized the VoIP communication session and/ or determined the counterpart. The VoIP communication session control unit 20 may thus offer the user 30 to set up the VoIP communication session If offered, the VoIP communication session is only set up if the user accepts it. If the user accepts the offer, through clicking on the button VCB, a VoIP communication session is set up from the user terminal to a terminal of the counterpart or from a terminal of the counterpart to the terminal of the user 30, where the setting up of the VoIP communication session is made using the determined prioritization as well as to the selected counterpart.

The VoIP communication session may be a voice communication session. It is also possible with a video communication session and/or a chat session.

It can thereby be seen that a user 30 that is deemed to be interested in support is offered a prioritized VoIP communication session and/or a VoIP communication session to a selected counterpart. The user is thus proactively offered help based on the activities in the interaction session, which improves the user-friendliness of the interaction between the user and the system. The user does not have to make a number of selections for selecting a desired counterpart and can also avoid waiting in queues.

As an alternative to offering the user to set up the VoIP communication session, it is possible that the VoIP communication session is automatically set up from the counterpart to the USGF. lO 13 Apart from being a person a counterpart may be a voice-mail box or a robot.

Now a second embodiment will be described. This embodiment will only be described in relation to products. However, it should be realized that it can also be applied on services.

Again a user 30 is engaging in an interaction session with a web site provided by the web server 12. The web client 24 and/ or the web server 22 may collect data about the user activities in the particular interaction session that the user 30 is involved in and may then store the data locally or in an external database. It is also possible that the user supporting device 14 performs such data collection.

The user behaviour analysing unit 16 of the user supporting functionality 15 may continuously analyse the user behaviour during the interaction session, which in this case involves investigating the user activities on the web site, for instance on a number of linked HTML pages, provided by the web server 12. The investigating here involves investigating objects having been manipulated so far by the user, S104, such as the selection of further information about a product represented by an object, which product the user most recently looked at further information about, the selection and placing of objects in the selection zone SZ as well as the values of the investigated products both investigated and placed in the selection zone SZ. Just as in the first embodiment, it is also possible to investigate the order in which the user has performed such activities. The user behaviour analysing unit 16 also investigates the transaction scheme TS, S106, through determining if the user has entered the transaction scheme TS and if so at which step he or she currently is. The time investigating unit 18 also investigates the time of the interaction session, S108, i.e. how long the interaction session has been going on or the time that the user has spent on the web site in the interaction session. The time investigating unit 18 may also investigate the time spent by the user to look at further information about a product. These activities may be performed through studying the above-mentioned collected data.

Based on this information, the VoIP communication session control unit 20 then determines if a VoIP communication session could be of interest to the user. This may again be based on the setting of a communication session priority for the user, which may be based on the previous investigations, i.e. based on the number of objects that have been manipulated, the number of times an object has been manipulated and the time length of the manipulation, the number of objects that have been put in the selection zone and the value of the corresponding products. It is thus possible to employ a "product value"-based priority setting, so higher lO 14 value of the products put in the selection zone SZ or product recently viewed by the user 30 means higher priority. The determining of the priority may also or instead be based on the step in the transaction scheme TS at which the user is currently located. It is thus possible that a combination of position in the transaction scheme and objects in the selection zone or only position in the transactions scheme is used to determine priority instead of the objects in the selection zone. The priority based on the position in the transaction scheme is an example of a "close to checkout"-based priority setting, so an estimated high chance that the user 30 Will exit the transaction scheme TS will result in a high priority. In both these cases it is additionally possible to consider the time since the beginning of the interaction session, where the longer the time is since the beginning of the session, the higher the priority is.

The priority may then be compared with a communication session initiation setup criterion. It is again possible that the priority has a value and the criterion is met if this value crosses a corresponding communication session setup initiating threshold.

In case the user is deemed to be uninterested in a VoIP communication session, S110, the user behaviour analysing unit 16 continues investigating the objects having been manipulated so far by the user, S104, and the product purchasing scheme, S106, and the time investigating unit 20 continues investigating the time of the interaction session, S108.

However, in case the user is deemed to be interested in the setting up of a VoIP communication session, S110, the VoIP communication session control unit 20 initiates a communication session setup procedure.

In the communication session setup procedure, the communication session control unit 20 determines the prioritization of the VoIP communication session, S112, which may be based on the previously determined priority value. If the device 28 is a call centre, this may involve prioritizing the VoIP communication session that is to be set up for the user 30 compared with other communication sessions to the call centre. The VoIP communication session may thereby get precedence over other pending or ongoing sessions. The prioritization may also or instead ensure that a VoIP communication session is initiated after office hours, where otherwise support would normally not be possible. The prioritization can thus also mean that the VoIP communication session is set up to a certain VoIP destination, for example to a support agent instead of to a mailbox at out of office hours. lO The communication session setup procedure also comprises the VoIP communication session control unit 20 selecting a counterpart, S114, which may be based on the analysis of the object manipulations, such as if the user has investigated one or more products for a long time, which product is the most recently investigated or through investigating the objects placed in the selection zone SZ and the order in which the user has performed such activities. It is possible that the first counterpart 32 is an expert on the first product category Cl, while the second counterpart 34 is an expert on the first product type T1 of the first product category C1 and the third counterpart 36 is an expert on the second product category C2. In this case the first counterpart 32 may be selected if the user is deemed to be generally interested in the first product category C1. This may be the case for instance because the vast majority of the objects in the selection zone SZ are in this category. The second counterpart 34 is selected if the user 30 is deemed to be interest in the first product type T1 of the first product category C1. This may be the case since half the objects in the selection zone are of this type. If on the other hand the user 30 has investigated the products represented by the objects 01, 02, 03 and 04 during a first time interval, then placed these objects in the selection zone SZ and thereafter investigated products of the second category C2 during a second time interval that is as long as or longer than the first time interval, but not put objects corresponding to these later investigated products in the selection zone SZ, then it is possible that the third counterpart 36 is selected instead, because the user seems to need support regarding the second category C2. The VoIP communication session control unit 20 may apply skill-based routing, so that the session is made between the user and an an agent who is regarded best qualified to respond to the user"s needs (web visitor"s need). Alternatively, product-based routing may be employed, so that the VoIP communication session is set up between the user and an agent who is best qualified to respond to questions about the products in focus for the user on the interaction session.

The connection used for the VoIP communication session may be set up from the user 30 to the selected counterpart or vice versa. In order to do this, the VoIP communication session control unit 20 offers the user to set up a VoIP connection between the user 30 and the determined or selected counterpart, S116. This may be done through presenting the VoIP connection button VCB to the user 30, which may be done through providing data about the button VCB to the Web browser 24 either directly or via the VoIP client 26, whereupon the web browser 24 presents the button VCB. The presentation is thus done after the determination that a communication session could be of interest and after having prioritized the VoIP communication session and after having selected the counterpart. It is possible that lO 16 the user is also presented with the identity of the determined counterpart and/ or the role of the counterpart within the organization.

If the user accepts the offer, through clicking on the button VCB, the VoIP communication session control unit 20 then sets up a VoIP communication session between the user terminal and the device 28, and more particularly between the user and the selected counterpart, such as the first or the second counterpart 32 and 34, using the determined priority, S118. The VoIP communication session may be set up from the user to the selected counterpart or from the selected counterpart to the user. The VoIP server 22 may in this case distribute the VoIP communication session to the selected counterpart. If the communication device 28 is a call centre, the prioritizing may involve prioritizing the VoIP communication session over other communication sessions. It may also or instead ensure that a VoIP communication session is initiated after office hours, where otherwise support is not possible.

The VoIP communication session being set up this way may be a voice or a video communication session. It may additionally or instead be a chat session between the user and the counterpart.

There are a number of further user activities and circumstances that can be analysed in addition to or instead of those mentioned above, such as how the user manipulations are distributed in time during the interaction session, web pages that have been viewed during the interaction session, selected menu options like product categories, products and product details, if a menu option has been selected multiple times during the interaction session, searches performed in a search bar during the interaction session, if the user has filled in a coupon code on the web site, the outcome of comparisons between the users web activity with historical statistical data from a particular web shop. For example, by comparing the actual interaction session with interaction sessions which ended up in a completed or finalized transaction scheme (predictions of probability for a purchase of based on pattern recognition).

The analysis can also be based on other factors such as the landing page (or start page) of the user (the page that the user first saw when coming to the web site), the geographical position of the user, if the user is a recurring visitor, and if so, the web history of the earlier visits and if the user is anonymous or identified (signed in user at the particular web site). lO 17 For a signed in user it is additionally possible to analyse a number of additional measures such as Address, Age Gender and historical user activities on the web site like Purchase history. The historical user data can in this case include information from earlier VoIP communication sessions and/or earlier support sessions of other types.

It is additionally possible to analyse browser type and brand (desktop or mobile browser, brand and version), device type used by the user (desktop, tablet or mobile), the brand of the device used by the user (brand, model and version), operating system (and version of it) installed at the device used by the user.

It is finally possible to analyse how the user entered the web site, such as by links in paid ads, by organic search, by sponsored search, by links at social media websites, by links via email, by links via SMS, by links on other websites and by entering the web address directly in the browser.

In fig. 1, the user supporting functionality 15 was implemented in the user supporting device 14 of the system 10. The user supporting functionality 15 was thus separate from the Web server 12 and the VoIP server 22. It should as an alternative be realized that the user supporting functionality 15 may be a part of either the web server 12 or the VoIP server 22, in which case the web server or the VoIP server may be considered to be a user supporting device. As another alternative the user supporting functionality 15 may be a part of the web client 24 or the VoIP client 26. The user supporting functionality 15 may additionally be spread out over different nodes, such as the web server 12, the VoIP server 22 and the VoIP client 26. In case the user supporting functionality 15 is provided as a part of the web client 24 and/ or the VoIP client 26, it may with advantage be combined with the web client and/ or the VoIP client as an "App" being downloaded and installed in the user terminal from a data carrier in the form of a server, for instance provided through services such as App StoreTM or Google PlayTM. In this case the user terminal may be a user supporting device. When the user supporting functionality 15 is a part of a user terminal, it is possible that the VoIP communication session is initiated in the user terminal. It may thus be a VoIP communication session being set up from the user terminal to the terminal of the determined counterpart.

The user supporting functionality 15 may, as was described earlier, be provided in the form of a processor with associated program memory including computer program code for its performance. lO 18 A computer program may also be provided as a part of a computer program product, for instance in the form of a computer readable storage medium or data carrier, like a server, a CD ROM disc or a memory stick, carrying a computer program with the computer program code, which will implement the above-described user supporting functionality 15 when being loaded into a processor. One such computer program product in the form of a CD ROM disc 44 with the above-mentioned computer program code 42 is schematically shown in Fig. 6.

It is possible that only prioritizing of VoIP communication session or only determination of a counterpart is made. In this case it is possible that the priority used for determining if the communication session setup procedure is to be entered is only based on the determinations used for prioritizing the VoIP communication session or the determinations used for determining counterpart.

While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiments, but on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements. Therefore, the invention is only to be limited by the following claims.

Claims (1)

1.A device (14) for providing support of a user (30) exploring a web site provided by a web server (12), the device comprising a processor (40) acting on computer instructions (42) whereby the device (14) is operative to implement user supporting functionality (15) configured to: analyse activities of the user (30) on the web site during an interaction session, and set up a Voice-over-IP (VoIP) communication session between the user (30) and a counterpart (32, 34) associated with the web site based on the analysis. The device (14) according to claim 1, wherein the activities of the user comprise activities in the group of: selecting objects representing products or services, placing objects representing products or services in a selection zone (SZ) and performing steps in a transaction scheme (TS). The device (14) according to claim 1 or 2, the device (14) being further configured to analyse the time that the user has spent on the Web site in the interaction session and the setting up a VoIP communication session is also based on said time spent by the user on the web site. The device (14) according to any previous claim, which when analysing the user activities on the web site is further configured to analyse if the user activities cause a communication session setup initiation criterion to be met and to only set up the VoIP communication session if the communication session setup initiation criterion is met. The device (14) according to any previous claim, the device (14) being further configured to determine a prioritization of the VoIP communication session based on the analysis and the setting up of the VoIP communication session is made using the determined prioritization. The device (14) according to any previous claim, the device being further configured to select the counterpart based on the user activities on the web site. The device (14) according to claim 6, wherein the counterpart is a person associated with a type of product or service or a category of products or services corresponding to objects manipulated by the user (30) in the interaction session. The device (14) according to any previous claim, being further configured to offer the user to set up the VoIP communication session and being configured to only set up the VoIP communication session if the user accepts. A system (10) for providing support of a user, the system comprising a web server (12) providing a web site which the user (30) may explore and a user supporting functionality (15), the user supporting functionality (15) being configured to: analyse activities of the user (30) on the web site during an interaction session, and set up a Voice-over-IP (VoIP) communication session between the user (30) and a counterpart (32, 34) associated with the web site based on the analysis. A method for providing support of a user exploring a web site provided by a web server (12), the method comprising: - analysing (S100; S104, S106, S108) activities of the user (30) on the web site during an interaction session, and - setting up (S102; S118) a Voice-over-IP (VoIP) communication session between the user (30) and a counterpart (32, 34) associated with the web site based on the analysis. A computer program for providing support of a user (30) exploring a web site provided by a web server (12), the computer program comprising computer program code (42) which when run in a processor (38) of a device (14) providing support for the user, causes the device (14) to: analyse activities of the user (30) on the web site during an interaction session, and set up a Voice-over-IP (VoIP) communication session between the user (30) and a counterpart (32, 34) associated with the web site based on the analysis. A computer program product for providing support of a user exploring a web site provided by a web server (12), the computer program product comprising a data carrier (44) with computer program code (42) according to claim 11.