Customer profiling engine

• US 20060167759A1
• Filed: 01/27/2005
• Published: 07/27/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 01/27/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Fedele, Samuel A.
• Granted Patent: US 8,195,474 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/26
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]

Abstract

A method and apparatus are provided in a computer network to present marketing and other pertinent information to clients from a host. The client environment is interrogated locally using a profiling engine. A customer class generated by a profiling engine on the customer server controls a URL behind an inquiry tab presented in a client user interface. When the customer clicks on the tab they are taken to a portal designed by a host marketing team specifically designed for customers belonging to the customer class designated by the profiling engine. Using the method and apparatus of the present application, direct, cost effective marketing materials are delivered to customers without sending any customer information through the customer firewall back to the host.

Claims

1. In a network including a first client server at a first customer account and a host server at a vendor facility, a customer profiling engine comprising:

a first software component on said first client server, the first software component executing a profiling algorithm on a set of predefined customer parameters and assigning said first customer account to a first one of a plurality of predefined account classes; and

,

a second software component at said host server, the second software component including a client user interface presenting an inquiry tab to said first customer account and, when said tab is selected, porting a user at said first customer account to first portal in accordance with said first one of said plurality of predefined account classes assigned to first said customer account by said first software component.

2. The customer profiling engine according to claim 1 wherein:

said first client server includes a device database storing information relating networked devices at said first customer account; and

,

said profiling algorithm is adapted to generate profile attributes and said first one of said plurality of defined account classes based on said device database.

3. The customer profiling engine according to claim 2 wherein said first client server includes a device database storing information relating to imaging and document devices at said first customer account.

4. The customer profiling engine according to claim 2 wherein:

said profiling algorithm is adapted to i) creates a criteria vector from said device database, and ii) perform logical operations on vector values of said criteria vector to generate said profile attributes.

5. The customer profiling engine according to claim 4 wherein:

said second software component is adapted to port said user at said first customer account to said first portal by associating said first customer account class with a URL.

6. The customer profiling engine according to claim 5 wherein said first portal includes at least one of marketing and maintenance information useful to said user at said first customer account based on said assigned first account class.

7. The customer profiling engine according to claim 6 wherein said first portal includes at least one of white paper information, office efficiency information, and cost reduction information relevant to said first customer account.

8. The customer profiling engine according to claim 5 wherein said profiling algorithm is adapted to generate said profile attributes as said first one of said plurality of predefined account classes based on parameters stored in said device database including:

hardware device mix data, printed page volume data, fault history data, usage information, and page cost information.

9. In a computer network, including a client server and a host server, a method of delivering customized marketing materials to the client server from the host server without transferring client data/information from the client server to the host server, the method comprising:

providing a profiling engine as a software component on said client server;

using the profiling engine, interrogating selected parameters stored in a database on said client server;

using the profiling engine and based on said interrogating of said selected parameters, assigning a first customer class to said client server from among a plurality of customer classes, each of said plurality of customer classes being associated with a plurality of URLs, said first customer class being associated with a first URL;

using said first URL associated with said first customer class, pointing to a first portal in said host server; and

,

in response to an input from a user at said client server, directing said user to a first site at said host server based on said first URL pointing to said first site.