Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTACT INFORMATION
INTEGRATION WITH SEARCH RESULTS
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[001] This application is a continuation-in-part United States patent
application serial number
13/843,688, filed on March 15, 2013 and titled "SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTACT
INFORMATION INTEGRATION WITH SEARCH RESULTS, which is a continuation-in-part
of United States patent application serial number 13/659,902, which was filed
on October 24,
2012 and titled "SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING A CALLBACK CLOUD,"
which is a continuation-in-part of United States patent application serial
number 13/446,758,
which was filed on April 13, 2012 and titled "A MOBILE COMMUNICATION DEVICE
FOR
ESTABLISHING AUTOMATED CALL BACK," which is a continuation-in-part of United
States patent application serial number 12/320,517, now issued as United
States patent number
8,213,911, which was filed on January 28, 2009 and titled "A MOBILE
COMMUNICATION
DEVICE FOR ESTABLISHING AUTOMATED CALL BACK." This application is also a
continuation-in-part United States patent application serial number
13/843,688, filed on March
15, 2013 and titled "SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTACT INFORMATION
INTEGRATION WITH SEARCH RESULTS, which is a continuation-in-part of United
States
patent application serial number 13/479,870, which was filed on May 24, 2012
and titled
"MANAGING, DIRECTING, AND QUEUING COMMUNICATION EVENTS USING
IMAGE TECHNOLOGY", which is also a continuation-in-part of United States
patent
application serial number 12/320,517, now issued as United States patent
number 8,213,911,
which was filed on January 28, 2009 and titled "A MOBILE COMMUNICATION DEVICE
FOR ESTABLISHING AUTOMATED CALL BACK."
1
Date recue / Date received 2021-11-03
CA 02827198 2013-09-13
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
1002] The invention relates to the field of software applications, and more
particularly to the
field of integrating human interaction software with corporate communication
systems.
Discussion of the State of the Art
[003] Companies know that consumers (customers and future customers) turn to
search engines
when they are looking for information, so they are heavily investing in
website design, search
engine optimization, mobile, and online marketing to ensure that they are
found during the
search...and that they are providing a channel of communication that is easy
to use and navigate.
The easier it is for a consumer to find a company, and navigate through the
information, the
more likely they will be to use the technology and become and/or stay a
customer. However,
with the rapid growth in search engine use it is truly surprising how most
companies are still
behind in delivering an effective and easy to use online experience for
consumers. According to
Econsultancy MultiChannel Customer Experience report "Only 26% of companies
have a well-
developed strategy in place for improving the search and online customer
experience". Also,
"40% of organizations cite 'complexity' as the greatest barrier to improving
multichannel online
customer experiences". This complexity and lack of simple online strategies is
leading to poor
customer experiences and frustration, and costing organizations a lot of
money. According to
Parature Customer Service Blog, "poor online customer experiences result in an
estimated $83
Billion loss by US enterprises each year because of webpage defections caused
by poor design,
lack of contact information or links for assistance, and abandoned purchases
from web order
pages".
[004] Search engine and online use by consumers is growing rapidly, and
companies are trying
to keep up to capture this audience. However, what companies seem to forget,
or ignore, is the
fact that when it comes to customer service most consumers actually prefer to
speak with
someone. According to the American Express 2011 Global Customer Service
Barometer "90%
of US consumers prefer to resolve their customer service issues through live
communication
with a customer service representative via the telephone, rather than through
online chat, email,
text messaging, or even face to face." Companies have approached their
multichannel strategies
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as an extension of their self-service strategy, so they tend to make it
difficult for the consumer to
actually speak with someone. Typically the phone number is hidden on a page
several layers
deep within the site, in very small font, and it usually does not show up in
the results through a
search engine, forcing the consumer to go to the website and search for the
number. This "self-
service" approach to their web strategy may be viewed as a solution in
providing information
and value to the consumer, but when it comes to allowing your customers to
contact you this
overall strategy has resulted in complaints, defections, and ultimately lost
revenue.
[005] What is needed, is a means to retrieve and integrate a company's contact
information in
search results, facilitating a much more efficient and user-friendly "one
click" means of
contacting a business after locating their information in an Internet search.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
1006] Accordingly, the inventor has conceived and reduced to practice, in a
preferred
embodiment of the invention, a system and method for retrieval and integration
of contact
information within displayed search results.
[007] According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, a system for
providing integrated
contact information with search results comprising a queue manager, that may
monitor contact
agent activity or availability such as to maintain queue information for
processing of contact
requests, and that may also provide such queue information to interaction
requestors, is
disclosed. According to the embodiment, a plurality of contact agents may
receive and respond
to customer interactions (such as taking customer service phone calls, or
responding to e-mail or
instant message-based communications, as may be appropriate to the nature of a
particular
interaction), and such agents may be distributed such as in a plurality of
contact centers or in a
cloud-based or similar distributed or remote organization, such that contact
agents may interact
with customers regardless of physical location or logical arrangement.
According to the
embodiment, a queue manager may monitor agent statistics such as (for example)
scheduling,
training or skill sets, or current availability. A queue manager may also
monitor overall contact
center or cloud operations, such as call volume (number of calls being taken
in a given
timeframe, or various derivative statistics such as average call quantity or
peak periods of
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CA 02827198 2013-09-13
activity), such as to maintain a "virtual queue", not only of individual agent
availability but also
of overall contact center operations. In this manner, a queue manager may
maintain a relevant
measurement of contact center operations with sufficient granularity as to
allow for trend
analysis or statistic gathering on specific agents as well. According to the
embodiment, a queue
manager may provide this information in response to interaction requests, such
as to notify a
requestor of current availability¨such as, for example, providing an estimated
wait time for an
agent to become available, or providing the number of available agents trained
to handle a
particular interaction request. In this manner, a queue manager may receive
interaction requests
and provide relevant information to assist the requestor, rather than a simple
interaction denial if
no agents are available. Furthermore, a queue manager may provide interactive
indicia (such as
clickable buttons, or other interactive interface elements common in the art)
to a requestor, such
as to enable them to take action based on queue information received. For
example, if no agents
are available, a requestor might be given an interactive option to schedule a
future interaction
request. It should be appreciated that such functionality is described as
exemplary, and a variety
of indicia and interactive functions may be utilized according to the
invention. It should be
further appreciated that as described, a queue manager may handle queue
information and
interaction requests for a plurality of contact centers or cloud-based agents.
Such an arrangement
is exemplary, and additional or alternate arrangements may be utilized
according to the invention
(such as contact centers with dedicated queue managers, or queue managers that
optionally may
interact with each other for more efficient information availability and
presentation).
10081 According to a further embodiment, a requestor may be a search engine
such as various
internet-based search providers common in the art. According to the
embodiment, a search
engine may request information form a queue manager as part of a search query,
such as when a
user searches for corporate contact information. According to the embodiment,
a search engine
.. may submit query information to a queue manager, such as corporate
identification information
from a search query, such that a queue manager may identify relevant contact
agents. Queue
manager may then provide any relevant queue information, such as agent
availability or hours of
operation, and may furthermore provide interactive indicia such as to allow
scheduling of a
future interaction (such as when no agents are currently available), or to
immediately contact an
agent for further information or assistance (such as when agents are known to
be available and
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CA 02827198 2013-09-13
ideally able to assist with a particular query). A search engine may then
return any information
or indicia received alongside results of a search query for presentation to,
and optional
interaction by, a user.
[009] In another preferred embodiment, a method for providing integrated
contact information
with search results is disclosed. According to the embodiment, a user may
submit a search query,
such as when searching for information related to a business or product. A
search engine may
take this query information (and optionally any additional known information,
such as stored
data from previous queries), and submit a request to a queue manager. Queue
manager may then
respond with any relevant queue information, and optionally with interactive
indicia to provide
interaction options to the requesting user (such as clickable "contact us"
buttons, or interactive
elements for scheduling a future callback request). The search engine may then
present this
information or indicia to the user, along with the results of the search
query.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES
[0101 The accompanying drawings illustrate several embodiments of the
invention and,
together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the
invention according to the
embodiments. One skilled in the art will recognize that the particular
embodiments illustrated in
the drawings are merely exemplary, and are not intended to limit the scope of
the present
invention.
[011] Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary hardware
architecture of a computing
.. device used in an embodiment of the invention.
[012] Fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary logical architecture
for a client device,
according to an embodiment of the invention.
[013] Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing an exemplary architectural arrangement
of clients,
servers, and external services, according to an embodiment of the invention.
[014] Fig. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary system architecture according
to a preferred
embodiment of the invention.
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CA 02827198 2013-09-13
[015] Fig. 5 is a method diagram illustrating an exemplary method for
embedding contact
information within search results, according to a preferred embodiment of the
invention.
[016] Fig. 6 is a prior art illustration of an exemplary search results page
as is common in the
art.
[017] Fig. 7 is an illustration of an exemplary search results overview page
with embedded
contact data, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.
[018] Fig. 8 is an illustration of a detailed search results page showing
embedded contact data
and live queue data, according to an embodiment of the invention.
[019] Fig. 9 is an illustration of a detailed search results page showing
embedded callback
interface and callback confirmation, according to an embodiment of the
invention.
[020] Fig. 10 is an illustration of a search results overview page showing
embedded contact
data and self-service interface elements, according to an embodiment of the
invention.
[021] Fig. 11 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary flow of message
signals between
exemplary components of a system providing embedded data within search
results, according to
an embodiment of the invention.
1022] Fig. 12 is a block diagram of a variant architecture, illustrating the
use of distributed
resources according to an embodiment of the invention.
[023] Fig. 13 is a method diagram illustrating prioritization of search
results based on resource
managers, according to an embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[024] The inventor has conceived, and reduced to practice, a system and
methods for retrieval
of contact information for displaying relevant contact information and
embedding live queue
functionality into search results.
[025] One or more different inventions may be described in the present
application. Further, for
one or more of the inventions described herein, numerous alternative
embodiments may be
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CA 02827198 2013-09-13
described; it should be understood that these are presented for illustrative
purposes only. The
described embodiments are not intended to be limiting in any sense. One or
more of the
inventions may be widely applicable to numerous embodiments, as is readily
apparent from the
disclosure. In general, embodiments are described in sufficient detail to
enable those skilled in
the art to practice one or more of the inventions, and it is to be understood
that other
embodiments may be utilized and that structural, logical, software, electrical
and other changes
may be made without departing from the scope of the particular inventions.
Accordingly, those
skilled in the art will recognize that one or more of the inventions may be
practiced with various
modifications and alterations. Particular features of one or more of the
inventions may be
.. described with reference to one or more particular embodiments or figures
that form a part of the
present disclosure, and in which are shown, by way of illustration, specific
embodiments of one
or more of the inventions. It should be understood, however, that such
features are not limited to
usage in the one or more particular embodiments or figures with reference to
which they are
described. The present disclosure is neither a literal description of all
embodiments of one or
more of the inventions nor a listing of features of one or more of the
inventions that must be
present in all embodiments.
[026] Headings of sections provided in this patent application and the title
of this patent
application are for convenience only, and are not to be taken as limiting the
disclosure in any
way.
[027] Devices that are in communication with each other need not be in
continuous
communication with each other, unless expressly specified otherwise. In
addition, devices that
are in communication with each other may communicate directly or indirectly
through one or
more intermediaries, logical or physical.
[028] A description of an embodiment with several components in communication
with each
other does not imply that all such components are required. To the contrary, a
variety of optional
components may be described to illustrate a wide variety of possible
embodiments of one or
more of the inventions and in order to more fully illustrate one or more
aspects of the inventions.
Similarly, although process steps, method steps, algorithms or the like may be
described in a
sequential order, such processes, methods and algorithms may generally be
configured to work
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CA 02827198 2013-09-13
in alternate orders, unless specifically stated to the contrary. In other
words, any sequence or
order of steps that may be described in this patent application does not, in
and of itself, indicate a
requirement that the steps be performed in that order. The steps of described
processes may be
performed in any order practical. Further, some steps may be performed
simultaneously despite
being described or implied as occurring non-simultaneously (e.g., because one
step is described
after the other step). Moreover, the illustration of a process by its
depiction in a drawing does not
imply that the illustrated process is exclusive of other variations and
modifications thereto, does
not imply that the illustrated process or any of its steps are necessary to
one or more of the
invention(s), and does not imply that the illustrated process is preferred.
Also, steps are generally
described once per embodiment, but this does not mean they must occur once, or
that they may
only occur once each time a process, method, or algorithm is carried out or
executed. Some steps
may be omitted in some embodiments or some occurrences, or some steps may be
executed more
than once in a given embodiment or occurrence.
[029] When a single device or article is described, it will be readily
apparent that more than one
device or article may be used in place of a single device or article.
Similarly, where more than
one device or article is described, it will be readily apparent that a single
device or article may be
used in place of the more than one device or article.
[030] The functionality or the features of a device may be alternatively
embodied by one or
more other devices that are not explicitly described as having such
functionality or features.
Thus, other embodiments of one or more of the inventions need not include the
device itself.
[031] Techniques and mechanisms described or referenced herein will sometimes
be described
in singular form for clarity. However, it should be noted that particular
embodiments include
multiple iterations of a technique or multiple instantiations of a mechanism
unless noted
otherwise. Process descriptions or blocks in figures should be understood as
representing
modules, segments, or portions of code which include one or more executable
instructions for
implementing specific logical functions or steps in the process. Alternate
implementations are
included within the scope of embodiments of the present invention in which,
for example,
functions may be executed out of order from that shown or discussed, including
substantially
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CA 02827198 2013-09-13
concurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionality involved, as
would be
understood by those having ordinary skill in the art.
Definitions
[032] A "resource", as used herein, may refer to any means of satisfying a
customer need, such
as a contact center agent (such as may respond to customer queries and needs)
or other human
resource, or any hardware or software product, system or service such as may
be utilized for
serving customer needs. Such resources may be operated by a corporate entity
and (at least in the
case of hardware or software resources) may be interacted with in some
capacity by customers
for various self-service purposes (such as a customer using software to
research information or
perform operations such as on a customer account). Exemplary resources might
include company
web servers running web services or a company website, databases or other
storage systems,
application servers operating software for client or internal use, routing
systems for managing
communications either internally or with customers or other external
individuals, a physical
device such as a document printer for printing hard copies of electronic
documents, or any other
hardware or software system that might be utilized by a business or
enterprise. Exemplary
human resources might include contact center agents such as for technical
support or customer
service, sales or service associates such as at a physical storefront, or
account management
personnel such as dedicated representatives for large corporate accounts. Such
resources are
exemplary and it should be appreciated that anything may potentially be
considered a resource if
it is used in such a manner as to serve customers, whether directly or
indirectly (such as "behind
the scenes" service, as may be the case with technical support personnel that
do not directly
interact with customers).
[033] A "resource manager", as used herein, may refer to any element that may
control access
or interaction with resources, such as a software security gateway that might
regulate interaction
based on security credentials or other criteria.
[034] An "interaction", as used herein, refers to any attempted or successful
interaction
between an individual consumer and a business contact such as a contact center
agent or other
representative. Such interactions may occur via any suitable communication
means, such as
telephone call, voice over internet protocol (VoIP) call, text chat, e-mail,
or any other
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CA 02827198 2013-09-13
communication method suitable for facilitating interaction between a consumer
and a company
representative.
1035] An "agent", as used herein, refers to any customer service, sales, or
other representative
operating or communicating on behalf of a corporate or enterprise entity, such
as for receiving
and handling interactions with consumers (current or potential customers) or
other business
individuals.
[036] A "live queue", as used herein, refers to an actively monitored and
displayed countdown
of an interaction's position in a virtual "queue" or waiting list before being
handled by an agent.
Hardware Architecture
[037] Generally, the techniques disclosed herein may be implemented on
hardware or a
combination of software and hardware. For example, they may be implemented in
an operating
system kernel, in a separate user process, in a library package bound into
network applications,
on a specially constructed machine, on an application-specific integrated
circuit (ASIC), or on a
network interface card.
[038] Software/hardware hybrid implementations of at least some of the
embodiments
disclosed herein may be implemented on a programmable network-resident machine
(which
should be understood to include intermittently connected network-aware
machines) selectively
activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in memory. Such network
devices may
have multiple network interfaces that may be configured or designed to utilize
different types of
network communication protocols. A general architecture for some of these
machines may be
disclosed herein in order to illustrate one or more exemplary means by which a
given unit of
functionality may be implemented. According to specific embodiments, at least
some of the
features or functionalities of the various embodiments disclosed herein may be
implemented on
one or more general-purpose computers associated with one or more networks,
such as for
example an end-user computer system, a client computer, a network server or
other server
system, a mobile computing device (e.g., tablet computing device, mobile
phone, smartphone,
laptop, and the like), a consumer electronic device, a music player, or any
other suitable
electronic device, router, switch, or the like, or any combination thereof. In
at least some
CA 02827198 2013-09-13
embodiments, at least some of the features or functionalities of the various
embodiments
disclosed herein may be implemented in one or more virtualized computing
environments (e.g.,
network computing clouds, virtual machines hosted on one or more physical
computing
machines, or the like).
[039] Referring now to Fig. 1, there is shown a block diagram depicting an
exemplary
computing device 100 suitable for implementing at least a portion of the
features or
functionalities disclosed herein. Computing device 100 may be, for example,
any one of the
computing machines listed in the previous paragraph, or indeed any other
electronic device
capable of executing software- or hardware-based instructions according to one
or more
programs stored in memory. Computing device 100 may be adapted to communicate
with a
plurality of other computing devices, such as clients or servers, over
communications networks
such as a wide area network a metropolitan area network, a local area network,
a wireless
network, the Internet, or any other network, using known protocols for such
communication,
whether wireless or wired.
[040] In one embodiment, computing device 100 includes one or more central
processing units
(CPU) 102, one or more interfaces 110, and one or more busses 106 (such as a
peripheral
component interconnect (PCI) bus). When acting under the control of
appropriate software or
firmware, CPU 102 may be responsible for implementing specific functions
associated with the
functions of a specifically configured computing device or machine. For
example, in at least one
embodiment, a computing device 100 may be configured or designed to function
as a server
system utilizing CPU 102, local memory 101 and/or remote memory 120, and
interface(s) 110.
In at least one embodiment, CPU 102 may be caused to perform one or more of
the different
types of functions and/or operations under the control of software modules or
components, which
for example, may include an operating system and any appropriate applications
software, drivers,
and the like.
[041] CPU 102 may include one or more processors 103 such as, for example, a
processor from
one of the Intel, ARM, Qualcomm, and AMD families of microprocessors. In some
embodiments, processors 103 may include specially designed hardware such as
application-
specific integrated circuits (ASICs), electrically erasable programmable read-
only memories
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CA 02827198 2013-09-13
(EEPROMs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and so forth, for
controlling operations
of computing device 100. In a specific embodiment, a local memory 101 (such as
non-volatile
random access memory (RAM) and/or read-only memory (ROM), including for
example one or
more levels of cached memory) may also form part of CPU 102. However, there
are many
different ways in which memory may be coupled to system 100. Memory 101 may be
used for a
variety of purposes such as, for example, caching and/or storing data,
programming instructions,
and the like.
[042] As used herein, the term "processor" is not limited merely to those
integrated circuits
referred to in the art as a processor, a mobile processor, or a
microprocessor, but broadly refers to
a microcontroller, a microcomputer, a programmable logic controller, an
application-specific
integrated circuit, and any other programmable circuit.
[043] In one embodiment, interfaces 110 are provided as network interface
cards (NICs).
Generally, NICs control the sending and receiving of data packets over a
computer network;
other types of interfaces 110 may for example support other peripherals used
with computing
device 100. Among the interfaces that may be provided are Ethernet interfaces,
frame relay
interfaces, cable interfaces, DSL interfaces, token ring interfaces, graphics
interfaces, and the
like. In addition, various types of interfaces may be provided such as, for
example, universal
serial bus (USB), Serial, Ethernet, FIREWIRETm, PCI, parallel, radio frequency
(RF),
BLUETOOTHTm, near-field communications (e.g., using near-field magnetics),
802.11 (WiFi),
frame relay, TCP/IP, ISDN, fast Ethernet interfaces, Gigabit Ethernet
interfaces, asynchronous
transfer mode (ATM) interfaces, high-speed serial interface (HSSI) interfaces,
Point of Sale
(POS) interfaces, fiber data distributed interfaces (FDDIs), and the like.
Generally, such
interfaces 110 may include ports appropriate for communication with
appropriate media. In some
cases, they may also include an independent processor and, in some in stances,
volatile and/or
non-volatile memory (e.g., RAM).
[044] Although the system shown in Fig. 1 illustrates one specific
architecture for a computing
device 100 for implementing one or more of the inventions described herein, it
is by no means
the only device architecture on which at least a portion of the features and
techniques described
herein may be implemented. For example, architectures having one or any number
of processors
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CA 02827198 2013-09-13
103 may be used, and such processors 103 may be present in a single device or
distributed
among any number of devices. In one embodiment, a single processor 103 handles
communications as well as routing computations, while in other embodiments a
separate
dedicated communications processor may be provided. In various embodiments,
different types
of features or functionalities may be implemented in a system according to the
invention that
includes a client device (such as a tablet device or smartphone running client
software) and
server systems (such as a server system described in more detail below).
[045] Regardless of network device configuration, the system of the present
invention may
employ one or more memories or memory modules (such as, for example, remote
memory block
120 and local memory 101) configured to store data, program instructions for
the general-
purpose network operations, or other information relating to the functionality
of the
embodiments described herein (or any combinations of the above). Program
instructions may
control execution of or comprise an operating system and/or one or more
applications, for
example. Memory 120 or memories 101, 120 may also be configured to store data
structures,
configuration data, encryption data, historical system operations information,
or any other
specific or generic non-program information described herein.
[046] Because such information and program instructions may be employed to
implement one
or more systems or methods described herein, at least some network device
embodiments may
include nontransitory machine-readable storage media, which, for example, may
be configured
.. or designed to store program instructions, state information, and the like
for performing various
operations described herein. Examples of such nontransitory machine- readable
storage media
include, but are not limited to, magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy
disks, and magnetic
tape; optical media such as CD- ROM disks; magneto-optical media such as
optical disks, and
hardware devices that are specially configured to store and perform program
instructions, such as
read-only memory devices (ROM), flash memory, solid state drives, memristor
memory, random
access memory (RAM), and the like. Examples of program instructions include
both object code,
such as may be produced by a compiler, machine code, such as may be produced
by an
assembler or a linker, byte code, such as may be generated by for example a
JAVATM compiler
and may be executed using a JavaTM virtual machine or equivalent, or files
containing higher
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CA 02827198 2013-09-13
level code that may be executed by the computer using an interpreter (for
example, scripts
written in Python, Pen, Ruby, Groovy, or any other scripting language).
[047] In some embodiments, systems according to the present invention may be
implemented
on a standalone computing system. Referring now to Fig. 2, there is shown a
block diagram
depicting a typical exemplary architecture of one or more embodiments or
components thereof
on a standalone computing system. Computing device 200 includes processors 210
that may run
software that carry out one or more functions or applications of embodiments
of the invention,
such as for example a client application 230. Processors 210 may carry out
computing
instructions under control of an operating system 220 such as, for example, a
version of
Microsoft's WINDOWSTM operating system, Apple's Mac OS/X or iOS operating
systems,
some variety of the Linux operating system, Google's ANDROIDTM operating
system, or the
like. In many cases, one or more shared services 225 may be operable in system
200, and may be
useful for providing common services to client applications 230. Services 225
may for example
be WINDOWSTM services, user-space common services in a Linux environment, or
any other
type of common service architecture used with operating system 210. Input
devices 270 may be
of any type suitable for receiving user input, including for example a
keyboard, touchscreen,
microphone (for example, for voice input), mouse, touchpad, trackball, or any
combination
thereof. Output devices 260 may be of any type suitable for providing output
to one or more
users, whether remote or local to system 200, and may include for example one
or more screens
for visual output, speakers, printers, or any combination thereof Memory 240
may be random-
access memory having any structure and architecture known in the art, for use
by processors 210,
for example to run software. Storage devices 250 may be any magnetic, optical,
mechanical,
memristor, or electrical storage device for storage of data in digital form.
Examples of storage
devices 250 include flash memory, magnetic hard drive, CD-ROM, and/or the
like.
[048] In some embodiments, systems of the present invention may be implemented
on a
distributed computing network, such as one having any number of clients and/or
servers.
Referring now to Fig. 3, there is shown a block diagram depicting an exemplary
architecture for
implementing at least a portion of a system according to an embodiment of the
invention on a
distributed computing network. According to the embodiment, any number of
clients 330 may be
provided. Each client 330 may run software for implementing client-side
portions of the present
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CA 02827198 2013-09-13
invention; clients may comprise a system 200 such as that illustrated in Fig.
2. In addition, any
number of servers 320 may be provided for handling requests received from one
or more clients
330. Clients 330 and servers 320 may communicate with one another via one or
more electronic
networks 310, which may be in various embodiments any of the Internet, a wide
area network, a
mobile telephony network, a wireless network (such as WiFi, Wimax, and so
forth), or a local
area network (or indeed any network topology known in the art; the invention
does not prefer
any one network topology over any other). Networks 310 may be implemented
using any known
network protocols, including for example wired and/or wireless protocols.
[049] In addition, in some embodiments, servers 320 may call external services
370 when
needed to obtain additional information, or to refer to additional data
concerning a particular call.
Communications with external services 370 may take place, for example, via one
or more
networks 310. In various embodiments, external services 370 may comprise web-
enabled
services or functionality related to or installed on the hardware device
itself. For example, in an
embodiment where client applications 230 are implemented on a smartphone or
other electronic
device, client applications 230 may obtain information stored in a server
system 320 in the cloud
or on an external service 370 deployed on one or more of a particular
enterprise's or user's
premises.
[050] In some embodiments of the invention, clients 330 or servers 320 (or
both) may make use
of one or more specialized services or appliances that may be deployed locally
or remotely
across one or more networks 310. For example, one or more databases 340 may be
used or
referred to by one or more embodiments of the invention. It should be
understood by one having
ordinary skill in the art that databases 340 may be arranged in a wide variety
of architectures and
using a wide variety of data access and manipulation means. For example, in
various
embodiments one or more databases 340 may comprise a relational database
system using a
structured query language (SQL), while others may comprise an alternative data
storage
technology such as those referred to in the art as "NoSQL" (for example,
Hadoop Cassandra,
Google BigTable, and so forth). In some embodiments, variant database
architectures such as
column-oriented databases, in-memory databases, clustered databases,
distributed databases, or
even flat file data repositories may be used according to the invention. It
will be appreciated by
one having ordinary skill in the art that any combination of known or future
database
CA 02827198 2013-09-13
technologies may be used as appropriate, unless a specific database technology
or a specific
arrangement of components is specified for a particular embodiment herein.
Moreover, it should
be appreciated that the term "database" as used herein may refer to a physical
database machine,
a cluster of machines acting as a single database system, or a logical
database within an overall
database management system. Unless a specific meaning is specified for a given
use of the term
"database", it should be construed to mean any of these senses of the word,
all of which are
understood as a plain meaning of the term "database" by those having ordinary
skill in the art.
1051] Similarly, most embodiments of the invention may make use of one or more
security
systems 360 and configuration systems 350. Security and configuration
management are
common information technology (IT) and web functions, and some amount of each
are generally
associated with any IT or web systems. It should be understood by one having
ordinary skill in
the art that any configuration or security subsystems known in the art now or
in the future may
be used in conjunction with embodiments of the invention without limitation,
unless a specific
security 360 or configuration system 350 or approach is specifically required
by the description
of any specific embodiment.
[052] In various embodiments, functionality for implementing systems or
methods of the
present invention may be distributed among any number of client and/or server
components. For
example, various software modules may be implemented for performing various
functions in
connection with the present invention, and such modules may be variously
implemented to run
on server and/or client components.
Concentual Architecture
[053] Fig. 4 is an illustration of an exemplary system architecture 400 for
integration of contact
information with existing search engines for embedded display in search
results. As illustrated, a
plurality of business contact centers 420 may be connected to and in
communication with one
another and other systems or devices via the Internet 401 or another
communications network.
As illustrated, a contact center may comprise several components for basic
performance of
contact center function, such as including (but not limited to) resource
managers such as an
automated call distributor (ACD) 421 that may handle distribution or routing
of incoming
interactions (such as telephone calls) to appropriate agents 424 for handling,
CTI server 422 that
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CA 02827198 2013-09-13
may handle integration and coordination of computer- or Internet-based
interactions with
telephony-based interactions (such as might be appropriate when a consumer
uses a VoIP
program such as SKYPETM to place a call to a contact center, where agents may
be using
traditional telephony hardware), and a plurality of contact center agents 424
that may be
responsible for receiving and handling inbound interactions, as well as
placing and handling
outbound interactions. It should be appreciated that the arrangement of
contact centers as shown
is exemplary, and alternate configurations are possible (such as a contact
center with remote
agents handled by resource managers, as illustrated below with reference to
Fig. 12).
[054] As illustrated, A plurality of search engines 410 such as those operated
by service
providers such as GOOGLETM 411a, BINGTM 411b, or YAHOO!TM 411c (or any other
search
engine provider as are common in the art) may be connected to and in
communication with other
elements of system 400 via the Internet 401 or another communications network.
Search engines
410 may be utilized by consumers for querying available information to locate
products or
services such as might be offered by companies operating contact centers 420
as illustrated, or
for retrieving contact information for such companies as might be desirable
should a user desire
to contact and interact with an agent 424. As further illustrated, system 400
may also comprise a
queue manager 402, which may be utilized to operate a virtual queue service
wherein a pending
consumer interaction may be given a position in a queue (such as based on the
time an
interaction was initiated) enabling the consumer to pursue other activities
while a queue manager
402 may maintain a consumer's position in the virtual queue relative to other
interactions, and a
callback cloud 403 that may comprise a distributed or cloud-based plurality or
network of
contact resources such as contact center agents, for such purposes as
distributed callback
handling (as may be utilized to optimally respond to callbacks without
impacting inbound
contact center operations, or to respond to callbacks that may be scheduled
outside of contact
center hours of operation). A more detailed illustration and description of a
callback cloud are
given below, with reference to Fig. 12. Such a system 400 operates in direct
contrast to existing
technologies that may require a user to actively wait "on hold" for a queue to
process, occupying
their time and preventing them from pursuing other activities, and potentially
increasing
frustration or lowering overall customer satisfaction out of inconvenience.
17
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Detailed Description of Exemplary Embodiments
[055] Fig. 5 is a method diagram illustrating an exemplary method 500 for
operation of a
system 400 for retrieval of contact information and live virtual queue data
for integration with
search results, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. In an
initial step 501, a
consumer submits a query via a search engine. Such a search engine may be any
of a variety
common in the art, and query may be any information query suitable for
submission via a search
engine, such as searching for information regarding a product or service,
looking for information
on a known enterprise, attempting to retrieve information on an unknown
enterprise using
keywords, or any other similar query. It should be appreciated that the
content of a query and
nature of a search engine are highly variable, and that all queries or search
engines described are
exemplary and many variant or alternate queries and search engines may be
utilized according to
the invention.
[056] In a second step 502, a search engine may process a query and produce
search results via
any of a number of search engine operation paradigms common in the art. It
should be
appreciated that search engine operation may vary according to the invention,
and that search
engines are a rapidly developing and evolving field in the art, and any search
engine that is or
may become available may be utilized according to the invention.
[0571 In a next step 503, a search engine may submit identification
information for business or
establishments found within search results (such as a business name, location,
owner
information, or any other information that could be used to identify a
business) to a queue
manager as part of a search operation (in effect, a queue manager may be
considered an
additional source of information queried during a search
operation¨specifically, contact and
queue information regarding businesses found in search results). Queue manager
may operate
remotely and independently of a search engine, such as a cloud-based service
provided by a
third-party service provider or vendor, and may provide additional or
alternate functions in
addition to operating a virtual queue and presenting queue and contact
information for
embedding with results from a search engine. In this manner it should be
appreciated that a
search engine and queue manager may operate independently of one another, or
alternately may
be operated jointly by a single service provider, and that alternate
arrangements may be utilized
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CA 02827198 2013-09-13
according to the invention (such as operation of multiple queue managers with
specialized
functions, or operation of multiple search engines with varying methods of
operation or queue
manager interaction, or any of a variety of other alternate or additional
arrangements that may be
possible). It should be further appreciated that a queue manager may be
operate in a multi-tenant
capacity, i.e. a single instance of a queue manager may be designed and
operated such that it may
handle a plurality of enterprise interactions in various arrangements (such as
operating multiple
virtual queues for a single enterprise, or operating queues for multiple
enterprises).
10581 In a next step 504, a queue manager may return current virtual queue
information (that is,
information collected as close as is practical to the moment search results
are compiled, thereby
presenting a user with the most recent possible data for increased relevancy)
pertaining to a
business contact center (that may be operated by a business discovered in
search results in a
previous step) to a search engine, such as current call volume or wait time,
number of available
agents, or any other information that may be relevant to determining overall
operational load of a
contact center. It should be appreciated that a variety of information may be
collected and sent,
and that not all information sent in this manner need be utilized by a
particular search engine or
query result, and it should be further appreciated that an apparent functional
extension of such
functionality would be the incorporation of periodic updates from a queue
manager, such as
frequent updates (such as a refresh of several updates per second) to queue
data so as to provide
realtime information monitoring to a user viewing search results. In this
manner, a user may
examine search results and view queue behavior or perform other activities
while leaving search
results displayed, such that when a user returns to the search results
display, current and relevant
information may still be displayed without needing to refresh a webpage or
resubmit a search
query. Additionally, a variety of data may be made available, while individual
search engines
may be left to determine what data to store or display, facilitating a more
compatible and
relevant interaction between a search engine and a queue manager.
[059] In a next step 505, a search engine may return results to a consumer,
optionally with
embedded virtual queue data to improve usefulness of search results. Such
embedded data might
be, for example, a simple display of how many calls are hold with a particular
business, or how
long the next customer in a virtual queue (i.e., the next interaction to be
handled) has been
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CA 02827198 2013-09-13
waiting, or any of a variety of additional or alternate information that may
be relevant to a
consumer and that may be obtained from a queue manager in a previous step.
[060] In a final step 506, a user is presented with a search results page with
virtual queue
information displayed, optionally with an additional interactive element (such
as a clickable
button or other interactive interface element) for initiating a connection
with a contact center.
Such results may be of varied arrangement and content, as described below
(referring to Figs. 7-
9), and a variety of arrangements of infoimation may be presented according to
the invention.
[061] Fig. 6 is an illustration of prior art, displaying an exemplary search
results display 600 as
is currently common in the art. Text shown in the illustration is intended as
a placeholder, actual
.. text content may vary however the overall display interface and general
content is as illustrated.
As shown, a search results display 600 may comprise a text box or similar text
input and display
interface element 601 such as might display a search query that generated
displayed results, a
plurality of results of processing a search query 602 that may contain basic
information or an
overview of a full webpage or location information that returned a result,
such as a name or other
identifying information, a clickable or selectable link to a webpage URL, or a
brief summary of
the content of a webpage. The specific content of results may vary, but it
should be appreciated
that the general content and intent of a results entry remains similar, i.e. a
concise summary of a
webpage that returned a result to a search query. Display 600 may further
comprise a plurality of
clickable, selectable, or otherwise interactive interface elements 603 for
manipulating a search
query, such as searching for particular types of web content (such as news
articles or images), or
configuring search preferences (such as how to filter or sort results prior to
display), a static or
interactive interface region 604 that may display a map such as might display
locations of local
search results, and a static or interactive interface region 605 that may
display general or targeted
advertisements such as might be based on search history or browser history. It
will be
appreciated that display 600 as illustrated is representative of standard
features common to many
search engines commonly used in the art, and that such displays may comprise
additional or
alternate elements while retaining the basic utility and standard features
illustrated.
[062] Fig. 7 is an interface diagram illustrating an exemplary search results
display 700
incorporating virtual queue information 710 embedded within search results
602, according to an
CA 02827198 2013-09-13
embodiment of the invention. As illustrated, a search results display 700 may
be similar to those
currently found in the art (such as exemplary display 600 described
previously), but with the
addition of virtual queue information 701 such as may be reported by a queue
manager (as
described previously, referring to Fig. 5). directly embedded or otherwise
incorporated within
.. search results 602 prior to display, to present a user with a unified and
cohesive, meaningful
display that provides new information (current call volume or wait time
information) not
possible with current solutions.
[063] As illustrated, virtual queue data 701 may be displayed within or
alongside search results,
and may comprise any potentially-relevant information regarding contact center
traffic that may
.. be useful to a consumer (who might be considering contacting a center),
such as (as illustrated)
notifying a user that an agent is currently available (and thus signifying
immediate service), or
displaying a currently-expected wait time before an interaction will be
handled (so as to give a
user the opportunity to make a more informed decision regarding whether to
contact a company
or which contact center to contact). It should be appreciated that additional
or alternate queue
information may be collected and displayed according to the invention, and
such information
might be configurable by a user such as via a search engine settings menu 702,
which could (for
example) give a user configuration options for selecting what types of
information should be
displayed, controlling the nature of displayed information such as shape,
style, or positioning of
display elements, or setting different display options for different types of
information or
configurable thresholds (such as configuring hold time measurement to be
displayed within a
square button-style element and current call volume to display to the right of
search results, or to
display wait times longer than a selected time interval to be displayed in red
text while those
shorter may be displayed in green text). It should be appreciated that the
nature and display of
such information may be highly configurable according to the invention, and
furthermore that
such configuration may be stored such as via existing user account profiles
associated with
search engines (such as a GOOGLETM account that may store personal search
preferences for the
Google search engine).
[064] Fig. 8 is an interface illustration showing two exemplary detailed
search results 800
comprising a search result 801, virtual queue information such as what agent
skills or
departments are available 802, current call wait time 803, and connection
interaction elements
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CA 02827198 2013-09-13
such as a text input field such as to accept a user's contact number 804, a
clickable or otherwise
interactive element such as a button 805 such as to submit a user's input
contact number for
requesting a callback interaction, and a resulting confirmation message 806
that may incorporate
virtual queue data to present a user with an expected time to fulfillment.
[065] As illustrated, a particular search result 801 may be displayed in a
"zoomed in" or more
detailed manner, with additional information embedded in a results display
800. Exemplary
information as illustrated may comprise any of a variety of potentially
relevant virtual queue
information, such as to provide a user with information with which to make an
informed decision
regarding contacting a business or requesting an agent.
[066] As illustrated, if an agent is unavailable (as illustrated by a call
wait time 803 indicating
all agents are currently occupied), a user may be given the option to request
an outbound
interaction from an agent when one becomes available (allowing a user to
pursue other activities
while maintaining their position in a virtual queue, rather than wait on hold
for an extended
period). As illustrated, a user may be prompted to enter their own contact
information such as (as
illustrated) a telephone number where they may be reached, or any other
personal contact
information that may be available such as an e-mail address, chat client
information, or other
contact information. A user may be given the ability to submit their
information to a callback
cloud for outbound contact such as via a clickable button 605 or other
interactive interface
element, which may be treated as an inbound interaction for such purposes as
positioning within
a virtual queue. When a user submits contact information and requests contact
from an agent, a
confirmation message may be displayed to alert a user that their request was
successfully
received and placed in a virtual queue for handling. Such a confirmation might
comprise virtual
queue information such as an approximate time to expect contact from an agent,
such as to set
reasonable expectations with a user to improve perception of customer service.
A contact request
may be sent to a callback cloud (as described previously, referring to Fig. 4)
where it may be
routed to an agent with appropriate skills, tools, or schedule availability to
optimally handle a
user's contact request. When a contact request is handled, an agent operating
within a callback
cloud may place an outbound interaction to attempt to contact a user using
contact information
previously entered by a user (as described above when initially requesting a
callback),
completing an interaction with a user without having required the user to
waste any time waiting
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CA 02827198 2013-09-13
on hold or navigating multiple web pages searching for relevant information,
thereby improving
customer experience and business efficiency.
1067] Fig. 9 is an interface illustration showing two exemplary detailed
search results 800
comprising input elements such as a text input field 901 such as for a user to
input a contact
number where they may be reached, interactive clock 902 or calendar 903
elements for selecting
a time and date for scheduling a contact request, and a confirmation message
904 such as to
notify a user that a contact request was successfully submitted and scheduled.
In this manner, a
user may choose to schedule an outbound callback with a contact center, such
as if a wait time is
high (as illustrated) or if a user simply desires to schedule a callback for a
future time interval
(such as, for example, if a user is out of town but anticipates needing
contact upon return), such
that a user may request contact from a callback cloud agent at a time that is
convenient. Such
elements as illustrated are exemplary and may vary in form or position, and
alternate or
additional elements may be utilized according to the invention. A further
functionality that might
be implemented could be a scheduling engine that may utilize virtual queue
information such as
historical patterns or predicted contact center load, such as to provide a
calendar functionality
wherein a user may be shown predicted agent availability when deciding how to
schedule a
callback, so as to make a more informed decision¨for example, a user might
desire to avoid a
busy day if they have a complicated issue and expect to be on the phone for an
extended period
with an agent. It should be appreciated that all elements and arrangements
illustrated and
functions described are exemplary in nature and additional or alternate
functions or elements
may be utilized according to the invention.
[068] Fig. 10 is an illustration of an exemplary search results display 1000
comprising
embedded virtual queue data such as agent availability statistics 1001,
current call wait times
1002, and an interactive self-service element 1003, which may allow a user to
choose to pursue
available self-service options according to a particular business or contact,
such as (for example)
a skilled user opting to use online software configuration tools to configure
a new cable or digital
subscriber line (DSL) internet service connection, rather than contact an
agent for assistance with
installation. It should be appreciated that such elements may vary in
arrangement or design, and
that additional or alternate elements may be utilized according to the
invention, and it should be
further appreciated that the described use case is exemplary and a wide
variety of self-service
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CA 02827198 2013-09-13
solutions and techniques may be made available to users via an interactive
interface element
1003, and that additional features or implementations may become available and
be utilized
according to the invention.
[069] Fig. 11 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary flow of messaging
signals between
.. various interconnected components of a system for embedded search result
information. As
shown by signal 1100, a plurality of provider contact centers 420a, 420b
(referring to Fig. 4)
may provide a queue manager 402 with updates of available queues and
corresponding expected
wait time (EWT) information. This may be done continuously at any periodic
interval, e.g.,
every second. At a certain point, a user's communication device 1101 may send
a search request
1110 to a plurality of search engines 410, which may comprise one or more
search terms input
by device 1101.
[070] In some embodiments, a search engine may calculate search results for a
user's search
term in block 1120, then send a list of providers comprising the search
results to queue manager
402 via message 1130. In block 1135, queue manager 402 may determine which of
the list of
providers received in message 1130 offer direct connection services to users
via queue manager
1135. For example, the received list may comprise other providers who do not
offer such
services in addition to one or more of the providers who offer such services
such as contacts
centers 420a and 420b. In such case, the queue manager would only select from
the list the one
or more providers corresponding to centers 420a or 420b. For the selected
providers, the queue
manager also determines in block 1135 the types of services offered (e.g.,
sales, customer
service, general inquiry, etc.), the types of direct connections available for
each service (e.g.,
immediate connection, scheduled call-back connection, queued call-back
connection), and,
where applicable, the expected wait time (EWT) for each service queue. Queue
manager 402
may then send this information to the requesting search engine data center via
message 1140,
which also may comprise contact information (e.g., telephone numbers) for the
respective
providers and/or services, and self-service information for the provider
(e.g., URL of the
provider's customer service web page).
[071] In other embodiments, search engines 410 may store a list of providers
associated with
queue manager 402 that offer direct connection services. This list may be
updated periodically or
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CA 02827198 2013-09-13
occasionally based on information received by search engines 410 from queue
manager 402. In
these embodiments, a search engine may determine which of the providers
comprising the search
results determined in block 1120 offer direct connection service based on the
stored list.
Accordingly, message 1130 may comprise only the providers determined to offer
direct
connection services, and the operation in block 1135 may comprise the queue
manager
determining, for each provider in the list, the types of services offered
(e.g., sales, customer
service, general inquiry, etc.), the types of direct connections available for
each service, and,
where applicable, the expected wait time for each service queue.
1072] The expected wait time value may represent an estimated wait time
calculated using
.. primary estimated wait time techniques such as projecting a wait time based
on the quantity of
clients in the queue and any of a historical, present, or projected time
allotment for handling each
such queued client. Alternatively, the expected wait time value may be a
function of both a
primary estimated wait time calculation and a wait time augmentation
calculation made based on
service agent availability and/or scheduled change in service agent
availability.
.. [073] In block 1145, search engines 410 may combine the queue and EWT info
received in
message 1140 with the search results generated in block 1120 and sends the
augmented search
results to the communication device via message 1150. The communication device
receives and
parses this message, then displays the augmented search results to the user on
a screen display,
such as the screen display embodiments shown in and described above with
reference to Figs. 7,
8, 9, and 10. A screen display may comprise one or more display elements,
(e.g., icons), for the
user to select a particular provider and queue and, in some embodiments, to
enter call-back
information such as the user's phone number. A screen display also may
comprise display
elements (e.g., icons) that, when selected by the user, cause the device to
initiate a telephone call
to the provider or to initiate self-service via the provider's web site. In
block 1155, a device may
receive a user's selection of a particular provider and service, which
subsequently is sent to the
search engine data center in connection request message 1160.
[074] After receiving message 1160, a search engine may reply to a device with
direct
connection information message 1165, which may comprise information that can
be used by the
device to render a screen display such as those shown in and described above
with reference to
CA 02827198 2013-09-13
Figs. 8 and 9. The display screen may comprise a user input portion by which
the user can enter
call-back information such as phone number, time, and date. After rendering
the screen display
and capturing the necessary input from the user in block 1170, the device
sends a connection
request message 1174 to the search engine data center. Message 1174 comprises
the selected
provider and service, type of requested direct connection, and any call-back
information received
from the user in block 1170. The data center then sends to the queue manager
connection request
message 1177, which may comprise substantially the same fields as message
1174. Although not
shown on the figure, the search engine data center may also collect, store,
aggregate, and/or
process the information from message 1174 pertaining to the selection of the
particular provider
and direct connection service by the user. The search engine provider may
later use this
information for billing the contact center providers based on user access to
direct connection
services via the provided search results. Depending on the embodiment, contact
center providers
or others may be charged each time a consumer selects a provider and direction
connection from
search results; each time a user requests a connection, e.g., to be added to a
queue; or each time a
connection originating from the search results is actually completed. Other
embodiments may
include charges for more than one of these events, with different rates
applying to each charge.
[075] After receiving the connection request message 1177, the queue manager
sends an
connection request message 1180 to the provider contact center identified in
message 1177.
Message 1180 comprises the particular service, type of direct connection, and
any call back
information included in message 1177. In block 1182, the provider contact
center attempts to
according to the parameters contained in message 1180. For example, if the
user requested a
queued call-back type of direct connection, in block 1182 the provider contact
center attempts to
add the user to the queue corresponding to the requested type of service
(e.g., sales, customer
service, warranty claim, repair, etc.). If successful, the provider contact
center responds to the
queue manager with message 1184, indicating that the user's connection request
has been added
to the queue selected in block 1155. Message 1184 may further comprise the
latest available
EWT for the queue to which the user's connection request was added.
Alternately, if the queue
manager is unable to add the user's connection request to the selected queue,
this will be
indicated in a confirmation message 1184. In the case where the user has
requested a scheduled
call-back connection, confirmation message 1184 may comprise other available
call-back times
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CA 02827198 2013-09-13
if the call-back time requested by the user is not available, which may cause
the user's
communication device to prompt the user to select from among these.
[076] After receiving a confirmation message 1184 from the provider contact
center, the queue
manager sends confirmation message 1185 to the search engine data center; this
message may
.. comprise substantially the same fields as confirmation message 1184. The
data center may also
collect, store, aggregate, and/or process the information from message 1185
for use in billing the
contact center providers or other entities for facilitating direct connection
services via search
results. The data center subsequently combines at least a portion of the
information in
confirmation message 1185 with at least a portion of the search results
determined in block 1120
.. (e.g., the information pertaining to the selected provider) in block 1186,
then sends the combined
information to the device in message 1187. The message 1187 may comprise, for
example, a
confirmation web page such as the exemplary ones shown in Figs. 8B and 9B.
[077] Meanwhile, in block 1190, the selected provider contact center (e.g.,
contact center 420b
in Fig. 4) determines that it is time to call back the user who was added to
the call back queue in
block 1182. If the user has not scheduled a particular call-back time, this
time may occur when
the user's call-back request reaches a particular point in the selected queue,
e.g., next in line for a
service or sales agent. If the user has scheduled a particular call-back time,
then the provider
contact center waits until that scheduled time in block 1190. In either case,
at the given time, the
provider contact center establishes a call-back telephone connection 1195.
This telephone
connection may be via a circuit-switched telephony network, such as the public
switched
telephone network (PSTN) or public land mobile network (PLMN), or via a packet-
switched
network, such as the Internet, using an alternative technology such as voice-
over-IP (VoIP). In
some embodiments, the telephone connection 1195 may be a video telephony
connection. In this
manner, the user is able to engage in a conversation with a representative of
a selected provider
without the frustrations of long waits in a queue. In some embodiments, the
user may specify a
call back telephone number such that the user may receive a call-back
connection (scheduled or
queue) on any device that can accept telephone calls to the call-back number,
not merely on the
same device used to initiate the Internet search. Depending on the particular
device's
capabilities, the user may be able to use various types of telecommunication
applications to
connect with a provider, including various applications such as Skype that
transmit and receive
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voice and/or video information using standard and/or proprietary Internet
communication
protocols.
[078] Fig. 12 is a block diagram of an exemplary callback cloud 403 utilizing
remote resources
1210 and resource managers such as to provide additional functionality. As
illustrated, a
requestor 1201 such as a search engine may interact with a callback cloud via
the Internet 1202
or similar communications network. Callback cloud 403 may comprise a plurality
of remote or
distributed resources 1210 such as (for example) remote contact center agents
1211, remote
community members 1212, or cloud-based storage 1213. Remote contact agents
1211 may
operate independently or jointly as in a traditional contact center
interchangeably according to
the invention, being unified by a resource manager such as (for example) a CTI
server 1221. In
this manner, a variety of arrangement of contact agents 1211 may be possible
while maintaining
a consistent customer experience by controlling interaction with those agents
via a resource
manager. For example, agents may operate at different time intervals and a
resource manager
may track their availability such as to allow interactions at any time of day
by routing to agents
that are available at that particular time.
[079] Remote community members 1212 may comprise any individuals connected to
a
resource manager that may interact with a user such as via a chat dialogue, or
that may provide
information in response to a search query. These may not necessarily be
contact center agents or
technical personnel, but may simply be other users who choose to be available
to assist when
needed based on their own knowledge or skills. A resource manager such as a
chat server 1222
may manage interactions with such members, such as (for example) when a user
searches for
information regarding a product or service, they might be presented with an
option to chat with
another user of that product or service (such as via embedded elements as
described above).
[0801 Cloud-based storage 1213 may be any of a number of distributed
information storage
solutions as are common in the art, and may further comprise user-generated
storage such as
shared files on a user's personal computer (for example). In this manner,
search queries may
index and utilize information not normally available, by utilizing data made
accessible by other
community members (such as those described above as remote community members
1212) to
further refine search results.
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[081] A further function of utilizing such distributed resources as
illustrated in conjunction with
resource managers to unify them, is that a resource manager such as a
prioritization engine 1223
may receive search result information from other resources and resource
managers, then perform
analysis of results to determine such data as relevancy or availability of
resources in order to
"rank" or prioritize results prior to presenting them to a user. Such function
is described in
greater detail below, with reference to Fig. 13.
[082] Fig. 13 is a method diagram illustrating an exemplary method for
prioritization of search
results utilizing remote resources and resource managers as described above in
Fig. 12. As
illustrated, in an initial step 1301 a user may submit a search query such as
via a traditional
search engine as are common in the art. It should be appreciated that due to
the nature of remote
resources and the use of resource managers to control and unify access or
interaction with such
resources, integration with existing search services and technologies is
possible and the systems
of the invention may be readily adapted to new or alternate search
technologies as needed.
[0831 In a next step 1302, a search engine may query or poll resource managers
to incorporate
their respective resources in search results. This may incorporate the
presence or availability of
resources (such as whether a contact center agent is available), or more
detailed information such
as whether a particular agent is available, or how many agents are online in a
particular area. It
should be appreciated that due to the use of resource managers, a variety of
functionalities may
be possible according to the invention and additional functionality may be
easily incorporated by
modifying resource manager behavior without necessarily needing to make
changes to resources
themselves (further promoting flexibility and adaptability).
[084] In a next step 1303, a resource manager may interact with other resource
managers that
may or may not themselves be directly accessible to a search engine for
querying. Such an
arrangement might be, for example, a publically-accessible resource manager
that then interacts
with a company's internal manager (such as a call status server) for such
purposes as to gain
more detailed information regarding available resources.
[085] In a next step 1304, resource information may then be passed to a
prioritization engine or
similar resource manager. It should be appreciated that the use of such a
manager may provide a
"tiered" effect with regards to resources and manager, i.e. resources may be
managed by their
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CA 02827198 2013-09-13
respective resource managers and those managers may then be managed by higher-
level resource
managers. In this manner, a nested approach may be utilized when appropriate
according to the
invention, offering new or alternate fiinctionality to a callback cloud.
[086] In a next step 1305, a prioritization engine may process results of
resource querying and
based on the initial query performed, rank or order such results for
presentation to a user (such as
via a search results webpage display). In a final step 1306, these ordered
results may then be
returned to the initial requestor (such as a search engine), for presentation
to a user.
[087] The skilled person will be aware of a range of possible modifications of
the various
embodiments described above. Accordingly, the present invention is defined by
the claims and
their equivalents.
