Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Description
PROCESS FOR DYNAMIC ROUTING OF CUSTOMER
CONTACTS TO SERVICE PROVIDERS IN REAL TIME
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[1] The present invention generally relates to routing customer contacts, such
as
telephone call routing. More particularly, the present invention relates to a
process for
dynamically routing customer contacts to service providers who have bid for
the op-
portunity to receive such contacts.
[2] Consumers interested in acquiring services must first find a service
provider who is
capable of providing the required services. Typically, this means perusing a
telephone
directory and selecting a service provider from the often long list of service
providers.
In some areas of the country, this requires that the consumer determine which
service
providers are sufficiently close to the consumer geographically so as to
attend to their
needs in a reasonable time frame and for a reasonable cost. This process can
become
frustrating and time consuming, particularly if the consumer must leave
messages for
service providers who are not currently available to take their calls. In such
an
instance, the consumer is faced with the choice of leaving a message and
hoping that
the service provider will contact them shortly, or leaving multiple messages
with
multiple service providers until reaching a service provider who is available,
and then
dealing with the return calls of service providers whose services are no
longer
necessary.
[3] Many consumers now own computers and have access to the Internet. Searches
can
be conducted to find service providers on the Internet. Some of these service
providers
have web-sites which provide information that can be valuable to the consumer.
Tra-
ditionally, service providers and other businesses on the Internet have paid
for each
'hit' or each time an on-line user clicks or otherwise selects their link to
arrive at their
web-site. This requires two steps, identifying a service provider on a web-
site and then
generating a phone call or e-mail request. Moreover, such hits have been found
not to
be overly promising as the on-line user may surf the web by selecting and
viewing
several web-sites before calling a business or service provider. Accordingly,
such 'hits'
often typically only cost the web-site owner a few cents as acquiring business
from a
given hit is unlikely.
[4] There are many disadvantages, however, that present themselves to the
consumers
that conduct on-line shopping for service providers. First, appropriate
Internet searches
must be conducted in order to arrive at the service providers in question.
Next, the on-
line customer must dete.rmine which service providers are in their geographic
location
or which suits their service needs, and select among a plurality of the
service
providers. This, of course, assumes that the customer owns a coinputer and has
the
necessary Internet connection. Moreover, it is estimated that approximately
seventy
SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26)
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percent (70%) of small and medium businesses do not have active web-sites.
Thus,
there are millions of service providers such as restaurants, plumbers, and
other small
businesses that do not conduct transactions on-line or have any web presence
whatsoever.
[5] Ingenio, Inc., has developed an on-line based pay-per call system for
routing
telephone calls made by consumers to advertisers, as disclosed in U.S. Patent
No.
6,704,403. The advertiser, such as a service provider, registers so as to have
its name
and telephone number (typically a unique toll free number for that particular
service
provider/advertiser) presented on the Internet. When an on-line consumer
searches for
a particular service, a list of service providers/advertisers is presented to
the consumer.
A consumer can select from this list and dial the service provider's telephone
number.
If the service provider is not available, a message is left with the service
provider. A
predetermined flat fee is charged for each call made to the service provider.
The '403
patent describes this fee as being paid by the potential customer, such that
the service
provider is compensated for the time in taking the customer's call. The '403
patent
further discloses that a per minute fee is also charged to either the service
provider or
the potential customer after an initial time period, such as 10-minutes. The
theory
behind this fee is that if a potential customer is on the phone with a service
provider
for a significant amount of time, the likelihood that the service provider
will actually
sell goods or perform services for the customer increases. Thus, the service
provider
does not need to pay for dead-end 'hits' or maintain a web-site or other
Internet
presence.
[6] However, the Ingenio system also has several drawbacks. First, the
consumer must
have a computer and Internet access. Next, the consumer must conduct an on-
line
search to find the list of service providers for the service that the consumer
is in need
of. This may not take into account the consumer's geographic location. The
consumer
then selects a single service provider, and if that service provider is not
available the
consumer must leave a message. Although the '403 patent discloses technology
which
facilities the service provider returning the consumer's telephone call, the
consumer is
still left with the unenviable option of waiting for the service provider to
return his or
her call, or calling other service providers on the list. While benefiting
various service
providers who otherwise do not have an Internet presence, the Ingenio system
does
little to benefit the consumer. Moreover, the '403 patent does not take into
account
other contact or customer originated contact means, such as satellite-enabled
voice-
links, VOIP contacts, or electronic messages.
[7] Accordingly, there is a continuing need for a dynamic contact routing
system
which charges a service provider only for contacts received, but which meets
the needs
of the customer as well, thus overcoming the drawbacks described above. The
present
invention fulfills these needs and provides other related advantages.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
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[8] The present invention resides in a process for dynamically routing
customer
originated contacts to service providers. The process of the present invention
presents
the potential customer with a live conversation or immediate feedback, instead
of the
customer leaving a message and waiting for a service provider to return the
telephone
call or contact.
[9] The process of the present invention generally comprises establishing
accounts for
a plurality of service providers. The service providers bid against one
another for a
per-contact charge. A minimum per-contact charge for each contact received may
be
established. A contact list comprising a plurality of service providers ranked
from the
highest bidder to the lowest bidder is created. When a contact is received
from a
customer, the contact is routed from the customer to the highest ranked bidder
service
provider available on the contact list. The service provider account receiving
the
contact is then charged the per-contact amount bid by the service provider.
[10] The customer originated contact may comprise a live conversation via a
real-time
cominunications link, such as a telephonic link, a voice over Internet
protocol (VOIP)
link, or a satellite enabled voice link. Alternatively, the contact may
comprise a
customer originated electronic message. The electronic message may comprise a
text
message, a SMS message, an e-mail message, or the like.
[11] In the case when the customer originated contact is a telephone call,
preferably, the
telephone number is a toll-free telephone number suggestive of a group of
service
providers. A promoter may be used to advertise the telephone number, or other
contact
information, to customers and obtain service provider accounts. In such a
case, the
system host, or owner of the process, and the promoter of the process share
the per-
contact charge.
[12] The service providers typically deposit funds into their accounts such
that the per-
contact charge can be automatically deducted from the service provider's
account after
the service provider receives a contact. The account status is available to
the service
provider through e-mail, account log-in, telephone, customer support or mail.
A
service provider is removed from the contact list when that service provider's
account
balance reaches a level where a received contact cannot be paid for by the
account's
balance as the service provider's per- contact bid exceeds the account
balance. The
service provider is notified when its account balance reaches a level where a
received
contact cannot be paid for by the account balance.
[13] In a particularly preferred embodiment, the bidding between service
providers is
ongoing such that the service providers are allowed to enter new bids for the
per-
contact charge. A service provider is notified when its bidding ranking on the
contact
list has changed. Although contact lists are typically created according to
service
provider type and geographic locations, the invention contemplates permitting
the
service providers to select one or more contact lists, such as when they
provide a
plurality of services or extend into a plurality of geographic locations.
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[14] Typically, when a customer originates a contact or query, the geographic
location
of the customer is determined so as to select a contact list based on that
geographic
location. This may be done automatically by deriving the geographic location
from the
customer's telephone contact identification. Geographic location of the
customer can
also be determined or derived by means of GPS-assisted location,
triangulation,
operator-assisted location, or cell-phone company assisted location.
Alternatively, the
customer is prompted to provide the geographic location information to route
the
service provider to a contact list with the corresponding geographic location.
This may
be accomplished, for example, by speech recognition or telephone key-pad
entry. In
some instances, the customer may be prompted to make a selection before being
routed
to a service provider, or after being routed to a service provider in order to
facilitate
the appropriate routing of the customer contact. This can be performed by
speech
recognition or telephone keypad entry.
[15] The customer's contact is directed to the highest ranked bidding service
provider on
the contact list. However, if the highest ranked service provider does not
answer or
respond to the contact, the customer contact will be rerouted to the next
highest ranked
service provider on the contact list. Alternatively, the highest ranked
service provider
is permitted to accept or reject a contact, such as by speech recognition or
telephone
key pad entry. The invention contemplates permitting service providers to set
time
periods of contact acceptance and rejection. If the highest ranked service
provider does
not accept a contact, the contact is rerouted to the next highest ranked
service provider
on the contact list.
[16] Other features and advantages of the present invention will become
apparent from
the following more detailed description, taken in conjunction with the
accompanying
drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the
invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[17] The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention. In such drawings:
[18] FIGURE 1 is a flow chart depicting the steps taken generally, in
accordance with
the present invention, in routing a customer originated contact to a service
provider;
[19] FIGURE 2 is a flow chart depicting the steps taken in setting up a system
embodying the present invention;
[20] FIGURE 3 is a flow chart depicting the steps for creating service
provider accounts
and service provider per-contact charge bidding, in accordance with the
present
invention; and
[21] FIGURE 4 is a flow chart depicting the steps taken when a customer
originates a
contact or request for a service provider in accordance with the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[22] As shown in the accompanying drawings, for purposes of illustration, the
present
invention resides in a dynamic contact routing process for linking customers
who are
in need of goods or services with such a service provider. As will be more
fully
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described herein, the present invention provides benefits both to the
potential
customers, as well as to the service providers. It should be understood that
the term
'customers' herein refers to any type of customer seeking any goods or
services or in-
formation. 'Service provider' refers to any entity or individual providing
such services,
goods, or information who belong to the system by setting up an account, as
will be
more fully described herein.
[23] With reference now to FIG. 1, the invention is generally illustrated.
First, a
customer contact is originated (10). This can take many forms. In a
particularly
preferred embodiment, the contact is a plain old telephone service (POTS)
telephone
call, although this can be a non-POTS live conversation, via a real-time com-
munication link such as a satellite-enabled voice link, voice activated
dialing link,
VOIP, or the like (12). An example of a satellite enabled contact or voice-
link is the
service provided by OnStarTM, wherein drivers or passengers in a vehicle can
press a
button and be placed in contact with an OnStarTM operator. The user could
indicate the
goods or services he or she desires, and the system of the present invention
would
route the contact, as described more fully herein. Of course, it will be
appreciated that
the customer originator contact could also comprise an electronic message,
such as a
text message, e-mail or SMS message (14). Such electronic message could be
originated from the user's computer, cell phone, personal digital assistant,
vehicle
navigation assistance device, etc.
[24] The location of the customer is then determined (16). This can be done in
a number
of ways. The geographic location can be automatically determined by means of
customer telephone identification, GPS-assisted location, triangulation,
operator-
assisted location, or cell-phone assisted location. Alternatively, the
customer is
prompted to provide the geographic location information, which can be done in
an
automated fashion by means of speech recognition or key-pad entry.
[25] The customer contact is then dynamically routed (18) to a service
provider who
receives or responds to the customer contact or request (20). The contact is
dy-
namically routed according to the goods or services the customer desires, the
geographic location of the customer, and a hierarchical contact list of
service provides,
as will be more fully described herein.
[26] With reference now to FIG. 2, the contact routing system and process of
the
present invention is first established. Although the owner to the rights to
the invention
could serve as a host nationwide, or even in a given geographic area, more
typically,
promoters (P) are used to create accounts in the system (100). That is, the
promoter
may negotiate in order to have a certain geographic territory or a certain
type of
service provider. The promoter would create an account with the host or owner
of the
system of the present invention, such as by using the Internet, by telephone
or even by
mail. The process of the present invention gives the promoter the ability to
create a
system that can route customer contacts to various service providers based on
how the
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promoter designs the contact routing business.
[27] Once the promoter's account is created, the promoter may deposit money
into the
account. This may be done by sending in a check or money order, or providing a
credit
card such that a credit is established with the host. Alternatively, no money
needs to be
deposited into the promoter account, but rather the promoter can pay the host
on a
periodic basis, such as monthly for the contacts which have been received and
the
revenue share generated by the service provider accounts.
[28] The promoter may establish a minimum bid amount or listing fee that a
service
provider (SP) will have to pay to be included in the system on a contact list
(102).
[29] The promoter then establishes whether the received contacts are to be
answered by
a voice prompt, directly routed to a service provider, or a coinbination
thereof (104). In
the case of telephone call contacts, preferably, either the promoter or the
host owns a
telephone number which is suggestive of a group of service providers. Even
more
preferably, the telephone number is a toll-free telephone number, such as a 1-
800 or
1-866 telephone number. For example, the telephone number may be
1-800-PLUMBER, 1-800-FLOWERS, 1-800-LAWYERS, etc. Typically, the promoter
will advertise the telephone number or other contact information and system
service,
such as in its geographic area, so that both potential service providers and
customers
will become aware it. Such advertising can take place on the Internet,
telephone di-
rectories, on bill boards, mass mailers, etc. Thus, service providers do not
need to have
the sophistication or pay the fees necessary to have an Internet presence, and
potential
customers do not need to own a computer and have Internet access in order to
become
aware of the contact information for the group of service providers belonging
to the
system. A suggestive toll-free number would be most desirable as the potential
consumers would readily remember such telephone numbers and not need to
reference
any additional materials when that service is needed, but instead contact the
number
from memory. However, the telephone numbers need not be toll-free nor
suggestive. It
will also be appreciated that the contact information can comprise information
other
than telephone numbers, such as a web-site address, an e-mail address, or by
any other
means. For example, satellite-enabled communication is increasingly available
to
customers. One of the more well-known types of this communications is the
OnStarTM
service, wherein vehicle drivers or passengers can press a button and be
placed in
contact with an OnStarTM operator, who currently provides accident or repair
assistance, driving directions and the like. Implementing the present
invention, the
vehicle driver or passenger could request a restaurant in a given geographic
location, a
hotel, a mechanic, etc.
[30] Referring again to FIG. 1, if the promoter establishes that the contacts
are to be
answered via voice prompt, the promoter designs a unique prompting menu to
suit the
specific business requirements (106). For exainple, if a potential customer
were to call
1-800 LAWYERS, a prompting menu may prompt the potential customer to select an
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area of law, such as intellectual property, real estate, family law, or
criminal law. The
system could be designed so as to either receive such selection by speech
recognition,
or by prompting the potential customer to press a certain number or button on
the
telephone key-pad. The prompting menu is typically provided to the customer im-
mediately upon calling the telephone number before the contact is routed to a
service
provider, but can be provided after a contact is routed in order that certain
information
may be obtained by the particular service provider before taking the telephone
contact.
[31] Alternatively, or additionally, when a potential customer originates a
contact, the
system is designed such that the caller is identified by the contact
identification, which
includes the customer's telephone number (108). In this manner, the system can
detect
the geographic location of the customer contacting and determine an
appropriate
service provider contact list, such as one based on geographic location.
[32] The system may also be designed with both, such that when the caller iden-
tification is blocked (110) other measures can be taken to determine location
such as
initiating a voice-prompt, connecting the contact with a customer service
repre-
sentative, etc., which will be more fully described herein.
[33] Once the promoter and/or host has established the menu driven software,
the
promoter advertises the contact routing system service. As discussed above,
the
promoter advertises the telephone number to potential customers and service
providers
(112). In such a manner, a service provider desiring to belong to the system
can call to
add themselves on various contact lists in order for customer contact to be
directed to
them (114). Of course, the service providers can also contact the promoter or
host in
different ways,.such as by visiting a web-site, calling the promoter mailing
or faxing a
registration form to the promoter or host, etc. As will be more fully
discussed herein,
the customer also contacts a unique telephone number or other contact means in
order
to be directed to a service provider (116), as will be more fully described in
FIG. 4.
[34] With reference now to FIG. 3, when promoting the system of the present
invention,
the potential service providers are inforined that they are only obligated to
pay the
promoter and/or host when a potential customer contact is actually received.
This
removes many of the uncertainties associated with listing one's telephone
number in a
telephone directory or paying an Internet advertiser for 'hits'. The service
provider first
creates a new account with a promoter and/or host (200). The account, at a
minimuin,
will identify the service provider and include contact information such as a
telephone
number, e-mail address, etc., for which contacts can be directly provided to
the service
provider. The service provider then deposits funds into the account (202) such
as by
credit card, check, etc.
[35] After establishing an account, the service provider selects which contact
list to join
(204). The system may be designed such so that the geographic location of the
service
provider automatically associates it with a particular contact list. In other
instances,
there may be no geographic territory limitation whatsoever and thus the
service
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provider is available on a nation-wide or state-wide contact list. The service
provider
may have multiple offices such that the service provider can select inultiple
contact
lists representing the multiple geographic locations in which its offices are
located.
Furthermore, the service provider may in fact offer more than one type of
service. For
example, if the service provider is a law firm, the law firm may provide
representation
in criminal law, real estate, litigation, etc., and thus be eligible for
multiple contact lists
even within a single geographical location. The service provider may also be
able to
bid different amounts for different geographical locations. That is, belonging
to a
particular contact list may be more valuable then belonging to other contact
lists, such
as when the geographic location is a metropolitan area, when the contact list
is more
specifically defined, such as a particular city versus a valley or county,
etc.
[36] The service provider then chooses the listing fee, or per-contact charge
fee based
upon an established minimum and/or a current market price (206). Typically, a
minimum per-contact received charge is established by the promoter and/or
host. This
would be a minimum per-contact charge for a customer contact received by a
service
provider. For example, this may be established as being one dollar per
contact.
[37] However, in a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the
service
providers are able to bid against one another for a'high' bid per contact
amount. The
service provider can then view not only the minimum established per-contact
listing
fee, but also the maximum or highest bid on the contact list. The service
provider can
also call a telephone number, such as a customer service number or the like to
retrieve
this information as well. As will be more fully described herein, the contact
lists are
ranked from highest bidder to lowest bidder and the customer contact is routed
ac-
cordingly. Thus, although the minimum listing fee or per-contact charge may
only be
one dollar, the market price that the service providers are willing to pay in
order to be
ranked highest and potentially receive the most customer contacts may be much
higher, such as two dollars or even more per contact. The service provider is
able to, at
this point, select the per-contact charge and bid against the others in the
contact list.
The service provider can choose to pay the high bid amount to move to first
position or
pay a lower bid amount which will place them in lower priority on the list.
The least
amount of money that a service provider can select is the established minimum
bid
amount. As customer contacts are routed to the service provider, the per-
contact
charge, which is either the minimum bid amount or the amount bid by the
service
provider is deducted from the service provider's account.
[38] The invention contemplates that certain service providers may hold
regular
business hours such as 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and thus customer contacts will
not be
routed to that service provider before 8:00 a.m. or after 5:00 p.m. The system
can be
designed such that the service provider can place a bid for a certain time of
day, such
that, for example, contact received between 8:00 a.m. and Noon, receive the
highest
bids, while those contact received in the afternoon receive lower bids, and
the service
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provider is able to put a zero bid for non-business hours. Additionally, or
alternatively,
the service provider can indicate which days of the week and what hours of the
day the
service provider is available to receive contacts, such that customer contacts
are not
routed to a service provider who is not available.
[39] Each service provider is permitted access to its account by logging on
through the
Internet, by telephone, etc. Preferably, the accounts are available through
the Internet,
such that the information is completely available to the service provider on
the
provider's or host's web-site. If the log in is not successful, a customer
service repre-
sentative can assist the service provider, or the password can be
electronically mailed
to the service provider (210).
[40] Once the service provider successfully logs into the account, it can add
funds to the
account, determine its current ranking, increase its bid amount per-contact,
check on
account balance, check on historical charges and contact, and otherwise check
on the
account status (212). Thus, the amount per-contact charge bids are preferably
constantly able to be altered, and not just upon registration of the account.
In this
manner, service providers can change their rank in the contact list and the
free market
will detennine the upper price per-contact received, maximizing the promoter
or host
revenue and granting some degree of control to the service providers on the
number of
contacts received.
[41] If the 'listing fee' or bid amount of the service provider is higher than
the available
funds in the account of the service provider (214), the service provider is
removed
from the contact list (216). A notice is sent to the service provider
informing it of the
lack of funds, with an invitation to add additional funds in the account in
order to be
placed back on the contact list (218). Such notice may be automated, such as
by
sending an electronic mail message, instant message, telephone message,
postcard, or
the like. The service provider is then permitted the opportunity to add
additional funds
into their account (220), such as by authorizing a credit card transaction,
sending in a
check or other payment to the promoter or host. If the service provider does
not deposit
funds into the account after a predetermined time, such as two days, an
additional
notice may be sent to the service provider to add funds into the account in
order to be
placed back on the contact list (218). If the service provider does not want
to be placed
back on the contact list,-a message is sent to the service provider,
preferably pe-
riodically, indicating how many customers were directed to other service
providers
during this time in order to persuade the service provider to register with
the system
again (226). If the service provider does want to be placed back on the
contact list, the
service provider is given the maximum or highest bid and asked to enter a new
bid
amount or select the established minimum bid amount (228). The service
provider is
then placed back on the list (230). Once on the contact list, the service
provider is
routed customer contacts in accordance with the present invention.
[42] If the service provider's bid is lower than the available funds in its
account, the
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service provider remains on the contact list (232). Alternatively, the service
provider
may have an open account wherein the service provider is billed on a periodic
basis,
such as a monthly cycle, and thus the service provider remains on the contact
list even
if there is insufficient funds in the account to accommodate the service
provider's bid
per contact. As mentioned above, the service provider is permitted access to
its
account and can periodically add funds as necessary and determine its current
ranking
and increase its bid amount. If a new service provider or an existing service
provider
on the contact list makes a higher bid so as to move into a position above the
service
provider, or the highest ranking position on the contact list (234), a message
is sent to
the service provider informing it of its change in position (236). As will be
appreciated
by those skilled in the art, the message may be sent automatically by
electronic mail,
instant messaging, telephone voice mail messaging, etc. The service provider
is
proinpted to log onto its account in order to increase its bid amount in order
to change
its position on the contact list or do nothing and keep the lower position
(238). As part
of the message to the service provider, the service provider may be given the
current
maximum bid amount and asked to enter a new bid amount (240). For example,
when
registering, the service provider may provide a credit card or account number
which
can be automatically debited by the promoter or host per instructions of the
service
provider. A speech recognition or window-driven portion of the message to the
service
provider may provide a menu in which the service provider can opt to deposit
additional funds into the account, such as to cover an inadequate balance, or
to
increase its bid amount per-contact received. In this manner, the service
provider is not
required to log into its account in order to accomplish these two tasks. The
automated
system can then inforin the service provider of the balance of the account,
and the new
minimum bid by the service provider. Such steps can be conducted with an
interactive
speech recognition driven menu, if a telephone message is directed to the
service
provider or if the service provider contacts a promoter's or host's customer
service
number, or can be accomplished through electronic mail, instant messaging, or
by
logging onto the service provider's account. Of course, it will be appreciated
that the
promoter or host rnay employ operators or customer service representatives who
can
receive a response to account requests by service providers, as well as
assisting
customers.
[43] With reference now to FIG. 4, the process for routing a customer
originated contact
in the form of a telephone call is illustrated. A potential customer calls the
telephone
number, which is preferably a toll-free number as described above, but also
may be
local or long distance number, or even a special number such as a 1-900
number, or
any other appropriate telephone number (300). The system then determines if
the
nuinber is menu assisted, or needs menu assistance (302). If the system is set
up so as
to identify the caller's geographical location by caller identification (304)
then the call
is automatically routed to the service provider in the first, or highest
ranked bidder,
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position in the call list (306). In those instances where there is no
geographic
limitation, the call can be automatically routed without identifying the
caller's
telephone identification by simply routing the call to the service provider in
first
position on the call list.
[44] If the number is menu assisted, such that the caller identification is
blocked, or the
system has been designed so as to be menu driven, the customer is prompted or
asked
to select customer service, such by depressing the 'zero' button on the
telephone
keypad or by speaking into the telephone. The prompting, as discussed above,
may be
directed to the geographic location of the customer, or the geographic
location of the
service to be provided. In such instance, the customer can, by speech
recognition or
keypad entry, enter the area code, zip code, city, state, etc. In the event
that the prompt
is not directed to geographic location, but to some otlier selection, such as
type of
service, the customer is asked to make that selection either by speaking into
the
telephone or by depressing a key on the telephone keypad (308). For example,
the
customer may be asked what kind of car they want to rent. The customer can
select
between luxury, compact, mini-van, etc. This may occur before the call or
after the call
is routed and before the service provider answers the telephone as discussed
above
(310).
[45] If the customer has difficulty with the menu selection, the customer can
dial 'zero'
for customer service (312) or otherwise request customer service such as by
speaking
into the telephone wherein a customer service representative will route the
call (314) to
the service provider in first position on the call list (306). However, if a
customer does
not select customer service, but is instead prompted to a list of questions on
the menu,
the system decides where to route the call (316), which is the service
provider in first
position on the appropriate call list (306).
[46] The present invention also contemplates a'search engine' which is an
automated
telephone system similar to dialing a 411 operator. In this embodiment, there
are many
different industries or service providers which have bids in a higher rank to
receive
calls for their industry and/or selected geographical locations. The customer
will call a
telephone number needing a phone query. The customer can then be routed as
described herein, or by selecting a particular industry or need by speaking
into the
phone or entering information into the phone by the key pad or the like.
[47] Once the call is routed to the service provider in the highest ranking
first position
on the call list, the service provider must answer the call within a specified
number of
rings, such as three or four rings. If they do not, the system may prompt the
customer
to 'please wait, while you are being connected' (320), while the call is
routed to the
next waiting service provider on the call list (322). In this manner, if a
service provider
is on another telephone call or is on vacation or the like, the customer is
routed to a
service provider immediately without having to leave a message. This enables
service
providers that are not the highest ranked service provider on the call list to
receive
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calls as well. However, it will be appreciated that the highest ranking
service provider
will receive the larger number of customer calls.
[48] However, if the service provider answers the call within a specified
number of
rings (318), that service provider is either presented with a live customer
call, or the
system may be devised such that the service provider is offered a message from
the
automated system, for example, 'press 1 to accept', '2 to reject calls', or
the service
provider is asked to voice their acceptance or rejection which will be
interpreted by
speech recognition software or the like (324). If the service provider rejects
the call,
the service provider is typically removed from the calling list and not
charged by the
billing server (328). Alternatively, the system may be devised such that the
service
provider is not removed from the call list, but instead can selectively accept
or reject
calls until the account balance falls below the service provider's minimum
bid, or the
service provider closes its account. In any event, the system will route the
call to the
next highest ranking service provider on the call list (322).
[49] If the highest ranking service provider accepts the call, either by
expressly stating
or pressing a button to accept the call or merely answering the telephone call
(330), the
call is established and registered into the billing server (332). The service
provider's
'bid amount' that the service provider previously bid per-call is charged to
the account
of the service provider (334). Preferably, the per-call charge bid amount is
auto-
matically deducted from the account of the service provider. The fee is then
distributed
to the promoter (336).
[50] Although the above-provided description relating to FIG. 4 has been
directed to a
customer originated contact in the form of a telephone call, such as a cell
phone or
plain old telephone service 'land line' call, the present invention is not
necessarily
limited to such. As described above, other forms of routing besides telephonic
calls are
contemplated. Live voice conversations can be conducted through Internet or
VOIP
links, a satellite-enabled up-link (such as OnStarTM), automated dialers,
which include
preprogrammed telephone or contact numbers, part of another system that does
not
require the potential customer to dial an actual telephone number. Dynamic
routing of
non-voice customer contacts, such as electronic messages, including text
messages,
SMS messages, e-mail messages, and the like, are also contemplated by the
present
invention. For example, an e-mail originated customer contact or request may
be
routed to the pertinent service provider's e-mail address, telephonic device,
SMS
device, or the like. Similarly, an SMS or text message originated customer
request can
be routed to the service provider's SMS device, telephonic device, or the
like. The
service provider can respond by electronic message, or otherwise contacting
the
potential custonler, such as by telephone. Similar steps illustrated in FIG.
4, could
apply to each of these types of communication contacts originated by the
customer and
routed to a service provider who receives a response to the customer request.
[51] It is contemplated by the invention that the promoter, when designing the
system
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can create a scoring system that will rate the satisfaction or value of the
service
provider by past customers. Such information can be used in a variety of ways,
such as
enabling the customer to select a 'four star' or 'highest rated' service
provider, requiring
service providers with low scores to pay a higher minimum bid fee or even
terminate
their participation in the system so as to maintain customer confidence in the
system.
[52] Typically, the promoter will have a contractual obligation with a host or
owner of
the intellectual property of the system, such that either a flat fee is paid
to the host by
the promoter upon establishing the system, for each new registered service
provider, or
a portion of each per-contact charge is split by the promoter and the
host/intellectual
property owner. This can be done on a periodic basis by billing or sending out
a
statement account balance or the like, or the promoter account can be
automatically
increased in amount for each charged contactor the like. The invention
contemplates
that either the promoter can directly deal with the service provider accounts,
and pay
the host on a periodic basis, or the host can maintain the system and receive
the
charges from the service provider directly, and pay the promoter the agreed to
share on
a periodic basis.
[53] It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the present
invention allows
service providers the ability to advertise their services dependent on an as-
needed
basis, and thus pay for advertisement only when they need work and to bid to
be in a
position to receive a greater number of contacts. Customers are directly
routed to a
service provider who is able to respond to their request immediately, without
the need
for the time consuming and tedious process of looking for a particular service
provider
in a telephone directory or on the Internet.
[54] The present invention also allows promoters the ability to build a viable
business to
provide dynamic contact routing to various business/service providers while
modifying
the routing system to fit specific business requirements.
[55] Although several embodiments have been described in detail for purposes
of il-
lustration, various modifications may to each be made without departing from
the
scope and spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be
limited,
except as by the appended claims.
