METHODS FOR PROVIDING SELF-SUPPORT SERVICES USING INFORMATION FROM A VIRAL SOURCE

• US 20120265800A1
• Filed: 04/12/2011
• Published: 10/18/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 04/12/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Teletech Holdings Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Teletech Holdings Incorporated
• Inventors: Tuchman, Kenneth D., Sharpe, Bruce A., Truong, Henry D., Rahn, Alan B.
• Granted Patent: US 9,178,994 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/1058 Shopping and product ordering
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/51 Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention , e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing

Abstract

According to one aspect, a request is received at a services application programming interface (API) of a support center from a user for support services of a product provided by a client of the support center. In response to the request, one or more articles associated with the product are identified that have been published in an online publication forum, where the articles have been extracted from a knowledgebase (KB) based on a support history of the product maintained by the support center. A list of support options is presented to the user, including a first one-touch button to contact an agent of the support center and a link to the one or more articles of the publication forum to allow the user to attempt finding a solution to the product without having to contact the agent of the support center.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for product support services, the method comprising:

receiving, at a services application programming interface (API) of a support center, a request from a user for support services of a product provided by a client of the support center, wherein the support center provides support services for a plurality of products provided by a plurality of clients;

in response to the request, identifying one or more articles associated with the product that have been published in an online publication forum, wherein the articles have been extracted from a knowledgebase (KB) based on a support history of the product maintained by the support center; and

presenting, via the services API, a list of support options to the user, including a first one-touch button to contact an agent of the support center and a link to the one or more articles of the publication forum to allow the user to attempt finding a solution to the product without having to contact the agent of the support center.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the request is originated from a one-touch application installed on a mobile device of the user, and wherein the list of options is displayed on a display of the mobile device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the articles published on the online publication forum is associated with a second one-touch button to allow the user to contact the agent of the support center during or after review of the article.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising, in response to an activation from one of the first one-touch button and the second one-touch button, establishing a communication session between the user and the agent of the support center for support services of the product.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first one-touch button represents one of one or more graphical representations associated with the product displayed on the mobile device, each of the graphical representations corresponding to a communication channel that is available for the user to contact the agent from the mobile device.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the second one-touch button represents one of one or more graphical representations associated with the articles displayed on the online publication forum, each of the graphical representations corresponding to a communication channel that is available for the user to contact the agent from the online publication forum.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

performing analysis on content a plurality of KBs, including at least one of an internal support KB of the support center, a client KB, a manufacturer KB, and an online community KB to identify one or more solutions to a particular problem of a particular product;

integrating the solutions into an article describing one or more solutions to the particular problem of the particular product;

editing and approving the article to satisfy certain technical and legal requirements; and

enabling the article to be publicly accessible in the publication forum.

8. A computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored therein, which when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method for product support services, the method comprising:

receiving, at a services application programming interface (API) of a support center, a request from a user for support services of a product provided by a client of the support center, wherein the support center provides support services for a plurality of products provided by a plurality of clients;

in response to the request, identifying one or more articles associated with the product that have been published in an online publication forum, wherein the articles have been extracted from a knowledgebase (KB) based on a support history of the product maintained by the support center; and

presenting, via the services API, a list of support options to the user, including a first one-touch button to contact an agent of the support center and a link to the one or more articles of the publication forum to allow the user to attempt finding a solution to the product without having to contact the agent of the support center.

9. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the request is originated from a one-touch application installed on a mobile device of the user, and wherein the list of options is displayed on a display of the mobile device.

10. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein at least one of the articles published on the online publication forum is associated with a second one-touch button to allow the user to contact the agent of the support center during or after review of the article.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises, in response to an activation from one of the first one-touch button and the second one-touch button, establishing a communication session between the user and the agent of the support center for support services of the product.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the first one-touch button represents one of one or more graphical representations associated with the product displayed on the mobile device, each of the graphical representations corresponding to a communication channel that is available for the user to contact the agent from the mobile device.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the second one-touch button represents one of one or more graphical representations associated with the articles displayed on the online publication forum, each of the graphical representations corresponding to a communication channel that is available for the user to contact the agent from the online publication forum.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises:

performing analysis on content a plurality of KBs, including at least one of an internal support KB of the support center, a client KB, a manufacturer KB, and an online community KB to identify one or more solutions to a particular problem of a particular product;

integrating the solutions into an article describing one or more solutions to the particular problem of the particular product;

editing and approving the article to satisfy certain technical and legal requirements; and

enabling the article to be publicly accessible in the publication forum.

15. A system for product support services provided by a support center, the system comprising:

a services application programming interface (API) to receive a request from a user for support services of a product provided by a client of the support center, wherein the support center provides support services for a plurality of products provided by a plurality of clients; and

a self-support knowledge manager coupled to the services API, in response to the request, to identify one or more articles associated with the product that have been published in an online publication forum, wherein the articles have been extracted from a knowledgebase (KB) based on a support history of the product maintained by the support center, wherein the services API is configured to present a list of support options to the user, including a first one-touch button to contact an agent of the support center and a link to the one or more articles of the publication forum to allow the user to attempt finding a solution to the product without having to contact the agent of the support center.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the request is originated from a one-touch application installed on a mobile device of the user, and wherein the list of options is displayed on a display of the mobile device.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein at least one of the articles published on the online publication forum is associated with a second one-touch button to allow the user to contact the agent of the support center during or after review of the article.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein in response to an activation from one of the first one-touch button and the second one-touch button, a communication session is established between the user and the agent of the support center for support services of the product.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the first one-touch button represents one of one or more graphical representations associated with the product displayed on the mobile device, each of the graphical representations corresponding to a communication channel that is available for the user to contact the agent from the mobile device.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the second one-touch button represents one of one or more graphical representations associated with the articles displayed on the online publication forum, each of the graphical representations corresponding to a communication channel that is available for the user to contact the agent from the online publication forum.

21. The system of claim 15, wherein the self-support knowledge manager is configured to

perform analysis on content a plurality of KBs, including at least one of an internal support KB of the support center, a client KB, a manufacturer KB, and an online community KB to identify one or more solutions to a particular problem of a particular product,

integrate the solutions into an article describing one or more solutions to the particular problem of the particular product,

edit and approve the article to satisfy certain technical and legal requirements, and

enable the article to be publicly accessible in the publication forum.