UNIFIED VIEW OF SHORT MESSAGE SERVICE (SMS) INTERACTION HISTORY WITH OTHER CHANNEL MESSAGES BASED ON CASE IDENTIFIER IN A CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT (CRM) APPLICATION

• US 20110207484A1
• Filed: 08/13/2009
• Published: 08/25/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/14/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Talisma Corporation Private Limited
• Original Assignee: Talisma Corporation Private Limited
• Inventors: Kamath Narasimha, Amit, Choudhuri, Chandrani, Sahu Kumar, Mahesh, Karnam Holal, Sujai
• Granted Patent: US 8,660,590 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/466
• 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]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/14 Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD]

Abstract

A method to provide a unified and integrated view of the SMS Interaction history with other channel messages (irrespective of the Interaction channel) based on Case ID (Case Identifier) in a CRM application. The method parses the incoming SMS message text for the Case Identifier. The Interaction Thread belonging to the same Case ID is retrieved from the CRM application database and the incoming SMS message is added to that Interaction Thread. The whole interaction history pertaining to the same Case ID is displayed on the CRM application user interface at one place along with latest received massage via SMS along with various other channels of communication in order to enable proper management of the customer interaction. In case there is no Interaction Thread having same Case ID, a new Interaction Thread is created and all subsequent messages are threaded to the new Interaction Thread.

Claims

1. A method to provide a unified view of short message service (SMS) interaction history along with other channel messages (irrespective of the interaction channel), based on Case ID (Case Identifier) in a customer relationship management (CRM) application, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving an incoming SMS message on CRM application;

(b) extracting Case ID embedded inside said incoming SMS message text;

(c) checking whether a pre-existing Interaction Thread with same Case ID exists in the application database;

(d) retrieving interaction history having same Case ID from application database;

(e) threading said incoming SMS message to Interaction Thread having same Case ID;

(f) displaying said incoming SMS message along with all previously received messages from retrieved interaction history, on interaction history panel of CRM application user interface.

2. The method as in claim 1 wherein said incoming SMS message includes a unique Case ID embedded inside said message text.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said Case ID comprises:

(a) a keyword comprised of one or more letters and;

(b) a substring comprised of one or more numeric characters.

4. The method as in claim 1 wherein the step of extracting Case ID includes following steps:

(a) searching for said keyword and said substring inside said incoming SMS message text;

(b) matching said keyword and said substring with corresponding keyword and substring in the pre-existing Case ID associated with saved messages in said application database;

(c) resolving exact Case ID from said keyword and said substring.

5. The method as in claim 1 wherein said pre-existing Interaction Thread comprises both incoming and outgoing messages exchanged via at least one of plurality of communication channels such as e-mail communication, telephony based voice communication, internet based chat communication, telephone line based fax and the like.

6. The method as in claim 1 wherein a new Interaction Thread is created upon receiving a new SMS message in case no matching Case ID is found in the step of extracting Case ID embedded inside said incoming SMS message text.

7. The method as in claim 1 wherein all subsequent incoming SMS messages with same Case ID are threaded to said pre-existing Interaction Thread in case a matching Case ID is found in the step of extracting Case ID embedded inside said incoming SMS message text.

8. The method as in claim 1 wherein said interaction history panel comprises:

(a) all saved messages received or sent via e-mail communication, telephony based voice communication, internet based chat communication, telephone line based fax and the like;

(b) said Case ID associated with said messages;

(c) communication channel through which the messages have been exchanged;

(d) date and time of receiving or sending said messages;

(e) said massages being sorted by date and time of receiving or sending.

9. The method as in claim 1 wherein the method further comprising the steps of:

(a) saving incoming SMS messages to application database of said CRM application with Case ID attached to said SMS message;

(b) upon user'"'"'s request, retrieving said SMS messages from said application database and displaying on user interface of said CRM application the text included in said message.

10. The method as in claim 9 further includes updating said CRM application database to reflect latest messages received or sent through said CRM application.