Premises Enabled Mobile Kiosk, Using Customers' Mobile Communication Device

• US 20100036670A1
• Filed: 08/06/2008
• Published: 02/11/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/06/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Inventors: Kiefhaber, Sarah H., Hill, Deborah, Sobus, Katherine A., Thomson, Rodney A., Kohler, Joylee E.
• Granted Patent: US 10,375,244 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/1.100
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/016 After-sales
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/30 Determination of the location of a subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/523 with call distribution or queueing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

A contact center is provided that can service customers on premises via a mobile kiosk. The mobile kiosk may be carried by the customer or by an on-site customer service representative. The mobile kiosk may be enqueued in the contact center contact queue such that enhanced customer service can be provided through interfacing with the enterprise database, vendor databases, as well as assigning an appropriately skilled contact center agent to the customer contact.

Claims

1. A communication method, comprising:

determining that a customer or employee has entered a predefined area corresponding to a premises;

in response to the detecting step, generating a contact for the customer or employee via a mobile kiosk;

tagging the contact with a premises tag which indicates that the contact is originating with an association to the premises; and

sending the contact to a contact center.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile kiosk comprises a mobile communication device that is carried by the customer and wherein the mobile communication device comprises at least one of a cellular phone, portable email retrieval device, and Personal Digital Assistant (PDA).

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

identifying at least one product and/or service of interest;

including information about the at least one product of interest with the contact; and

receiving a response from the contact center that includes at least one of the following for the at least one product and/or service of interest;

(i) location information for the at least one product and/or service of interest on the premises;

(ii) at least one of visual and audible directions to the at least one product and/or service of interest;

(iii) inventory information and/or service availability for the at least one product and/or service of interest;

(iv) price information for the at least one product and/or service of interest;

(v) information on specifications for the at least one product and/or service.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a location of the mobile kiosk on the premises; and

using the location information of the mobile kiosk to perform at least one of the following;

(i) at least one of a display the location of the mobile kiosk on a premises map provided on the mobile kiosk and voice commands specifying the location of the mobile kiosk on the premises;

(ii) determine a skill requirement based on the location of the mobile kiosk and include the determined skill requirement in the contact; and

(iii) provide directions via the mobile kiosk from the determined location to a location of interest on the premises.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile kiosk comprises a mobile communication device that is carried by an on-premises customer service agent.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining service needs for the customer; and

including a skill requirement related to the determined customer needs in the contact, wherein the skill requirement is used to route the contact in the contact center to a contact center agent that has a skill set corresponding to the skill requirement.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the contact center agent is a customer service agent at a second premises that is different from the premises where the customer is located.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the determined customer needs include language needs and wherein the contact center agent is capable of communicating in the same language as the customer, wherein the language of the customer includes at least one of slang, technical jargon, dialect, and sign language

9. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

receiving video of the customer;

streaming the received video of the customer to the contact center agent;

receiving video of the contact center agent; and

streaming the received video of the contact center agent to the mobile kiosk.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the premises tag includes an identifier of the premises.

11. A computer-readable medium encoded with processor-executable instructions for performing the method of claim 1.

12. A mobile kiosk on a premises, comprising:

a communication interface; and

a processor operable to generate a contact, tag the contact with a premises tag, and send the contact to a contact center via the communication interface.

13. The kiosk of claim 12, wherein the communication interface comprises a cellular communication interface.

14. The kiosk of claim 12, further comprising a user interface that allows a customer to identify at least one product and/or service of interest, wherein the processor is operable to include information about the at least one product and/or service of interest with the contact, and wherein the communication interface is operable to receive a response from the contact center that can be presented to the customer via the user interface and includes at least one of the following for the at least one product and/or service of interest:

(i) location information for the at least one product and/or service of interest on the premises;

(ii) directions to the at least one product of interest and/or point of service;

(iii) inventory information and/or service availability information for the at least one product and/or service of interest;

(iv) price information for the at least one product and/or service of interest; and

(v) information on specifications for the at least one product and/or service.

15. The kiosk of claim 12, further comprising a tracking device that is used to determine a location of the mobile kiosk on the premises, wherein the location information is used by the processor to execute at least one of the following:

(i) at least one of a display the location of the mobile kiosk on a premises map provided on the mobile kiosk and voice commands specifying the location of the mobile kiosk on the premises;

(ii) determine a skill requirement based on the location of the mobile kiosk and include the determined skill requirement in the contact; and

(iii) provide directions via the mobile kiosk from the determined location to a location of interest on the premises.

16. The kiosk of claim 12, wherein the processor is further operable to include a skill requirement related to determined customer needs in the contact, wherein the skill requirement is used to route the contact in the contact center to a contact center agent that has a skill set corresponding to the skill requirement.

17. The kiosk of claim 16, wherein the contact center agent is a customer service agent at a second premises that is different from the premises where the customer is located.

18. The kiosk of claim 16, wherein the determined customer needs include language needs and wherein the contact center agent is capable of communicating in the same language as the customer, wherein the language of the customer includes at least one of slang, technical jargon, dialect, and sign language.

19. The kiosk of claim 16, wherein the communication interface is operable to at least one of send and receive streaming video of at least one of the customer and contact center agent, respectively.

20. The kiosk of claim 12, wherein the premises tag includes an identifier of the premises.

21. A method, comprising:

receiving a contact in a contact center, wherein the contact includes caller identification information; and

analyzing the contact to determine whether the contact further includes a premises tag.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

determining that the contact includes a premises tag; and

performing at least one of the following;

(i) placing the contact in a premises queue; and

(ii) prioritizing the contact in a queue in which the contact is already assigned.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the premises tag identifies a physical location of a mobile kiosk that initiated the contact.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the premises tag includes an identifier of the premises.

25. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

determining that the contact includes an identification of at least one product and/or service of interest;

generating a response that includes at least one of the following for the at least one product and/or service of interest;

(i) location information for the at least one product and/or service of interest on the premises;

(ii) directions to the at least one product of interest and/or point of service;

(iii) inventory information for the at least one product and/or service of interest;

(iv) price information for the at least one product and/or service of interest;

(v) information on the specifications for the at least one product and/or service; and

transmitting the response to an originator of the contact.

26. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

determining a location of the mobile kiosk on the premises;

mapping the location information to a skill requirement;

identifying a contact center agent with a skill set that meets the skill requirement; and

assigning the contact center agent to the contact

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the contact center agent is located at a premises other than the premises where the mobile kiosk is located.

28. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

receiving video of a contact center agent assigned to the contact; and

streaming the video to a communication device that initiated the contact.

29. The method of claim 21, wherein the contact is received from a mobile kiosk associated with a customer, the method further comprising:

connecting the contact with a contact center agent; and

transferring the contact from the contact center to a communication device of a local customer service representative.

30. The method of claim 21, wherein the contact is received from a mobile kiosk associated with a customer, the method further comprising:

connecting the contact with a contact center agent; and

conferencing the contact center agent and customer with a local customer service representative.