System and method for event tracking across plural contact mediums

• US 20050125276A1
• Filed: 12/05/2003
• Published: 06/09/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/05/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Rusu, Grigore
• Application Number:
  US10/728,692
• Publication Number:
  US 20050125276A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/9
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/016 After-sales
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

An event tracking system tracks customer interactions to obtain product information that are made across plural contact mediums and displays an intuitive directed graph for analysis of the customer interactions. Each customer interaction is logged at each contact medium with a labeled reference associated with the content of the interaction, a time stamp and an identifier for the product or product user. An event modeling engine analyzes the log to identify contact sessions as contacts by the same identifier within a predetermined time so that an event tracking graphical user interface module prepares each contact session for display as a path of nodes interconnected by edges. Selected directed graph characteristics are highlighted, such as transitions from one contact medium to another or contact session volumes associated with an edge that have a relative volume compared with other contact sessions.

Claims

1. A system for event tracking across plural contact mediums, the events associated with the providing of product information to product users, the system comprising:

an event log module operable to accept one or more event logs from each of the plural contact mediums, each event log having plural contact sessions, each contact session having one or more time-stamped user interactions, each interaction with a labeled reference, each labeled reference providing information about the product;

an event modeling engine interfaced with the event log module and operable to compile the event logs as a directed graph having a node for each labeled reference, the nodes interconnected by edges derived from the time stamps to order nodes according to a temporal relationship of customer interactions in a contact session through one or more of the contact mediums; and

an event tracking graphical user interface interfaced with the event modeling engine and operable to display the directed graph.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein one or more contact sessions comprise contacts through both a self-support module associated with the product and a telephone conversation.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein one or more contact sessions comprise contacts through both a web-based support module associated with the product and a telephone conversation.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the product comprises an information handling system.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the event tracking graphical user interface is further operable to highlight predetermined paths from a first contact medium to a second contact medium.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein the second contact medium comprises a telephone conversation.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein the predetermined edges are highlighted according to the relative volume of contacts associated with the edges.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the contacts comprise user inquires for troubleshooting support associated with an information handling system product.

9. The system of claim 1 further comprising a path inflow engine interfaced with the event tracking graphical user interface and operable to display edges associated with contact sessions that have a user interaction from nodes of the directed graph into a selected node.

10. The system of claim 1 further comprising a path outflow engine interfaced with the event tracking graphical user interface and operable to display edges associated with contact sessions that have a user interaction from a selected node out to nodes of the directed graph.

11. A method for event tracking across plural contact mediums, the events associated with the providing of product information to product users, the method comprising:

logging product user interactions through the contact mediums by product user identifications, product information labeled references and time stamps;

identifying contact sessions of product users, each contact session having one or more product information labeled references associated with a product user identification within a predetermined time;

compiling the contact sessions as a directed graph having a node associated with each product information labeled reference, the nodes interconnected by edges, each edge associated with a user interaction at two nodes within the predetermined time, the edges defining a path between nodes for each contact session; and

presenting a visualization of the contact sessions that highlights edges having a predetermined characteristic.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein logging product user interactions further comprises:

logging product user interactions through a telephone conversation with an agent, the product information labeled references comprising agent script references; and

logging product user interactions through a self-help module, the product information labeled references comprising self-help navigation references.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the self-help navigation references comprise web page references of a web-based self-help module.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein the self-help navigation references comprise display page references of a self-help module loaded on the product.

15. The method of claim 12 wherein the product comprises an information handling system.

16. The method of claim 12 wherein the predetermined characteristic comprises a contact session having a path from a node associated with a self-help navigation reference to a node associated with an agent script reference.

17. The method of claim 12 wherein the predetermined characteristic comprises a predetermined number of outflow paths from one or more nodes.

18. The method of claim 12 wherein the predetermined characteristics comprise a predetermined volume of user interactions associated with a contact session path.

19. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

identifying one or more nodes associated with an edge having the predetermined characteristic; and

altering the information associated with a product information labeled reference of the identified node to impact user interactions associated with generation of the predetermined characteristic.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the predetermined characteristic comprises a transition by a product user from interaction through a first contact medium to interaction through a second contact medium.