Location based call routing to subject matter specialist

• US 10,262,349 B1
• Filed: 07/01/2013
• Issued: 04/16/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 08/12/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Scott, Sean Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Behnamian, Shahriar
• Application Number:
  US13/933,049
• Time in Patent Office: 2,115 Days
• Field of Search: 705 2641, 705 261, 379 45, 379356, 379266
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0613 Third-party assisted
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/00 Information and communication technology [ICT] specially adapted for implementation of business processes of specific business sectors, e.g. utilities or tourism healthcare informatics G16H
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42348 Location-based services which utilize the location information of a target
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/493 Interactive information services, e.g. directory enquiries ; Arrangements therefor, e.g. interactive voice response [IVR] systems or voice portals
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/51 Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention , e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/33 for indoor environments, e.g. buildings
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/12 Setup of transport tunnels

Abstract

Disclosed are various embodiments for location based call routing to a subject matter specialist. A call request is obtained from a computing device. The call request pertains to a topic and includes a current location of the computing device. A topic specialist for the topic is identified based at least in part upon the current location of the computing device. The call request is completed by establishing a call between the computing device and a computing device used by the topic specialist.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodying a program executable in a mobile computing device, the program, when executed, being configured to cause the mobile computing device to at least:

obtain a product assistance request associated with a mobile user;

obtain a current intra-building location of the mobile computing device, the current intra-building location being associated with at least one of a particular department of a plurality of departments or a particular aisle of a plurality of aisles;

generate a request to initiate a voice call, the request including the current intra-building location of the mobile computing device and a product category;

identify a product specialist associated with the current intra-building location of the mobile computing device based at least in part on the current intra-building location being associated with the at least one of the particular department or the particular aisle;

obtain confirmation that the voice call has been established with a computing device associated with the product specialist;

send audio from the mobile computing device to the computing device associated with the product specialist;

obtain audio from the computing device associated with the product specialist, the audio from the computing device associated with the product specialist being associated with the product specialist; and

terminate the voice call in response to a termination request.

2. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, the program further being configured to cause the at least one computing device to at least:

send video signals from the mobile computing device to the computing device associated with the product specialist; and

reproduce video signals from the computing device associated with the product specialist.

3. A computer-implemented method comprising:

obtaining, by at least one computing device, a call request from a client device, the call request pertaining to a current intra-building location of the client device, wherein the current intra-building location is associated with at least one of a particular department or a particular aisle;

identifying, by the at least one computing device, a topic associated with the current intra-building location of the client device based at least in part on the current intra-building location being associated with the at least one of the particular department or the particular aisle;

identifying, by the at least one computing device, a topic specialist for the topic; and

completing, by the at least one computing device, the call request by initiating a call between a computing device associated with the topic specialist and the client device.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, further comprising obtaining a phone number for the computing device associated with the topic specialist based at least in part on the current intra-building location of the client device.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the topic is at least one of:

a product category, a service category, or a geographic location.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the topic comprises a product category and the call request comprises an identifier associated with the product category.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the call is selected from the group consisting of a voice call, a video call, or a multimedia call.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the current intra-building location of the client device is derived from at least one of:

a global positioning system capability of the client device, an assisted global positioning system capability of the client device, a wireless local area network positioning system capability of the client device, or a wireless network positioning system capability of the client device.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the call comprises video captured by a camera associated with the at least one of the particular department or the particular aisle.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the current intra-building location of the client device locates the client device within an area of a store in which products in a product category are displayed.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein identifying the topic associated with the current intra-building location of the client device comprises identifying the product category associated with the area of the store.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein identifying the topic specialist for the topic comprises identifying the topic specialist based at least in part upon the product category associated with the area of the store.

13. A system, comprising:

at least one computing device; and

a specialist locator application executable by the at least one computing device, the specialist locator application configured to cause the at least one computing device to at least;

obtain a call request from a mobile computing device, the call request including a current location of the mobile computing device, wherein the current location is associated with at least one of a particular department or a particular aisle of a store;

map the current location of the mobile computing device to an item specialist based at least in part on the current location being associated with the at least one of the particular department or the particular aisle of the store; and

complete the call request by initiating a call between the mobile computing device and a computing device associated with the item specialist.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the specialist locator application is further configured to identify a topic associated with the current location of the mobile computing device, wherein the current location of the mobile computing device is mapped to a topic based at least in part on the at least one of the particular department or the particular aisle of the store, and the topic is mapped to the item specialist.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the topic is at least one of a product category or a service category.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the call request further comprises an identifier corresponding to the at least one of the product category or the service category.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the call request further comprises an identifier associated with a product identifier captured by the mobile computing device and the specialist locator application further comprises logic that identifies the item specialist based at least in part upon an analysis of the product identifier.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the product identifier comprises a bar code identifying a product available within an area of a store.

19. The system of claim 13, wherein the call comprises video captured by a camera associated with the at least one of the particular department or the particular aisle.

20. The system of claim 13, wherein the current location of the mobile computing device is derived from at least one of:

a global positioning system, an assisted global positioning system, a wireless local area network positioning system, or a wireless network positioning system.