SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DISTRIBUTING REMOTE TECHNICAL SUPPORT VIA A CENTRALIZED SERVICE
First Claim
1. A method for providing on-demand technical support services from a pool of technicians remote to a plurality of points of service via a centralized service in communication via one or more networks with the pool of technicians and a device at a point of service, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) receiving, by a centralized service, a request for work to be performed on a device, the device connected to a point of service of a consumer outlet of a plurality of points of service at consumer outlets, the centralized service operating on one or more servers in communication via one or more networks to the point of service;
(b) determining, by the centralized service from the request, a type of work for the request;
c) determining, by the centralized service, for the request one or more service level attributes to perform the type of work at a predetermined service threshold; and
(d) assigning, by the centralized service, the request to a work queue of a plurality of work queues based on the one or more service level attributes for the request corresponding to one or more capabilities identified for a plurality of remote technicians.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The solution described herein provides an innovative use of remote services technology integrated with service personnel onsite at the point of service, such as a consumer repair outlet, to provide a pool of technical support resources to service a widely distributed resource need, such as support and repair resource needs of a chain of consumer outlets or an aggregated group of single proprietor consumer outlets. With this solution, qualified technical resources are provided from a central location to service a widely distributed retail environment. This is on-demand online remote support service is called or referred to as “support from a spigot.” The distribution method enables the delivery of higher quality, more reliable and overall lower cost services. Instead of requiring dedicated technical resources at each location, lower skilled labor may be deployed at the location to enable the remote technical support services process.
226 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for providing on-demand technical support services from a pool of technicians remote to a plurality of points of service via a centralized service in communication via one or more networks with the pool of technicians and a device at a point of service, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) receiving, by a centralized service, a request for work to be performed on a device, the device connected to a point of service of a consumer outlet of a plurality of points of service at consumer outlets, the centralized service operating on one or more servers in communication via one or more networks to the point of service; (b) determining, by the centralized service from the request, a type of work for the request; c) determining, by the centralized service, for the request one or more service level attributes to perform the type of work at a predetermined service threshold; and (d) assigning, by the centralized service, the request to a work queue of a plurality of work queues based on the one or more service level attributes for the request corresponding to one or more capabilities identified for a plurality of remote technicians. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A system for providing on-demand technical support services from a pool of technicians remote to a plurality of points of service via a centralized service in communication via one or more networks with the pool of technicians and a device at a point of service, the system comprising:
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a centralized service receiving a request for work to be performed on a device at a point of service of a consumer outlet of a plurality of points of service at consumer outlets, the centralized service operating on one or more servers in communication via one or more networks to the point of service, the centralized service determining a type of work from the request and determining for the request one or more service level attributes of the type of work to perform the type of work for the request at a predetermined service threshold; a database comprising information identifying one or more capabilities of a plurality of remote technicians; and wherein the centralized service assigns the request to a work queue of a plurality of work queues based on the one or more service level attributes for the request corresponding to the one or more capabilities identified for the plurality of remote technicians. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method for receiving on-demand technical support services from a remote location, the method comprising
(a) transmitting, from a point of service of a consumer outlet to a centralized service, a request for service for a device connected from the point of service, the request for service determined by the centralized service to comprise a type of work and for the request one or more service level attributes determined by the centralized service for the type of work of the request; -
(b) receiving, by the device at the point of service of the consumer outlet, a connection from a remote technician of a plurality of remote technicians to service the request assigned by the centralized service to a work queue of a plurality of work queues, the centralized service assigning the request to the work queue based on one or more capabilities identified for the plurality of remote technicians corresponding to the one or more service level attributes to perform the type of work for the request at a predetermined service level threshold; and (c) receiving, at the point of service of the consumer outlet, information from the centralized service indicating a status of service performed on the device by the remote technician. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification