Method and system for online helpdesk

• US 10,423,966 B2
• Filed: 11/22/2015
• Issued: 09/24/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/16/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lantirn Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Jinsheng Wang, Lu Wang
• Inventors: Wang, Lu, Wang, Jinsheng
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Dhairya A
• Application Number:
  US14/948,367
• Publication Number:
  US 20160078040A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,402 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/113 Details of archiving lifecycle management in storage systems G06F3/0649; backup systems G06F11/1446
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/245 Query processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/016 After-sales
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/066 Format adaptation, e.g. format conversion or compression
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/216 Handling conversation history, e.g. grouping of messages in sessions or threads
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/56 Unified messaging, e.g. interactions between e-mail, instant messaging or converged IP messaging [CPM]

Abstract

Method and system for online helpdesk are disclosed. According to one embodiment, a CustomerOps platform is designed to provide customer operations to a plurality of businesses large or small. By providing a server or a cluster of servers, various activities (e.g., inquiries and responses) between a user and a business are captured and the data stream thereof is archived to a designated server. The stored data can be retrieved to view the various activities so as to engage the user contextually whenever there is a need. Such a CustomerOps platform facilitates efficient and more relevant human or automated assistance when the user desires to get engaged with the business that provides a service/product interesting to the user.

Claims

1. A method for providing a helpdesk platform, the method comprising:

registering a plurality of service providers with a server module being executed on a server, wherein the server module assigns an identifier (ID) to each of the service providers;

registering with the server module a plurality of users by assigning an identifier (ID) thereto, wherein these users interact with applications provided respectively by the service providers;

archiving in a store automatically data pertaining to activities of how a user has interacted with an application provided by a service provider being one of the registered service providers, wherein the data is captured by a client module per the ID of the user, the client module is embedded in the application, the ID of the user is related to the user but does not reveal exactly who the user is, and the data in the store is not accessible by the user;

identifying by the server module what communication channels the activities have taken place respectively, wherein the data is appended with information of the communication channels including by email, by messaging, by posting on a webpage or by an application;

retrieving some or all of the activities from the store when receiving over a data network an inquiry from the user interfacing with the service provider, wherein the retrieving is performed automatically per the ID of the user;

determining by the server module a communication channel the user is using to generate the inquiry; and

responding to the user in a format specific to the communication channel the user has used to create the inquiry in view of the activities retrieved from the store, wherein said responding to the user in a format specific to the communication channel comprises determining characteristics of the communication channel and formatting a response to the inquiry from the user appropriate for transmission in the communication channel, wherein the response includes an input from the service provider and the input is to respond to the inquiry; and

transporting the response to the user via the communication channel, wherein the response includes some but not all of the activities from the store, and the user sees from the response a copy of his inquiry and the input from the service provider along with some of the activities in the past.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the response is created in a way that the user retrieves all of the activities from the store when the user desires so.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

archiving automaticaIly the response by appending the response to the copy of activities in the store to update the activities the user has interfaced with the service provider.

4. A method for providing a helpdesk platform, the method comprising:

activating a module embedded in an application provided by a service provider when a user interacts with the application;

sending an inquiry by the module to a server over a data network after the inquiry is created by the user, wherein the inquiry includes an identifier (ID) of the service provider and an ID of the user, the ID of the service provider and the ID of the user are assigned by the server configured to archive automatically in a store data pertaining to activities of how the user has interacted with the application, the ID of the user is related to the user but does not reveal exactly who the user is, and the data is not available to the user, the server executes a server module to identify what communication channels the activities have taken place, the communication channels include at least one or more of by email, by messaging, by posting a webpage or by an application; and

receiving from the service provider a response to the inquiry via the server, wherein the server executes the server module to send the response to the user via one of the communication channels the user has used to create the inquiry, the response is formatted specifically for the one of the communication channels, and the data is automatically updated to include the inquiry, wherein the response includes an input from the service provider and the input is to respond to the inquiry, the response is transported via the communication channel, the response includes some but not all of the activities from the store, and the user sees from the response a copy of his/her inquiry and the input from the service provider along with some of the activities from the past.

5. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the activities include navigations on different pages in the application.

6. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the response is created in a way that all of the activities can be retrieved from the store when the user desires so.

7. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein the user sees from the response a copy of his inquiry and the input from the service provider along with all of the activities in the past.

8. A system for providing a helpdesk platform, the system comprising:

a server configured to register a plurality of service providers by assigning an identifier (ID) to each of the service providers and a plurality of users interacting with one of the service providers, wherein the ID of the user is related to the user but does not reveal exactly who the user is, the server configured to perform operations of;

archiving automatically in a store data pertaining to activities of how a user has interacted with an application provided by a registered service provider and identifying what communication channels the activities have taken place respectively, wherein the communication channels includes email, messaging, posting a webpage or an application, the data automatically captured by a client module embedded in the application is appended with information of the communication channels, the data is not available to the user;

retrieving some or all of the activities from the store when receiving over a data network an inquiry from the user interfacing with the application, wherein the retrieving is performed automatically per the ID of the user;

determining what communication channel the user is using to generate the inquiry; and

responding to the user in a format specific to the communication channel the user has used to create the inquiry in view of the activities retried from the store, wherein said responding to the user in a format specific to the communication channel comprises determining characteristics of the communication channel and formatting a response to the inquiry from the user appropriate for transmission in the communication channel, wherein the response includes an input from the service provider and the input is to respond to the inquiry; and

transporting the response to the user via the communication channel, wherein the response includes some but not all of the activities from the store, and the user sees from the response a copy of his inquiry and the input from the service provider along with some of the activities in the past.

9. The system as recited in claim 8, wherein the user sees from the response a copy of his inquiry and the input from the service provider.

10. The system as recited in claim 8, wherein the user sees from the response a copy of his inquiry and the input from the service provider.

11. The system as recited in claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise:

archiving automaticaIly the response by appending the response to the data of activities in the store to update the activities the user has interfaced with the service provider.