CUSTOMER TOUCH POINT FOR REAL TIME SHARING OF TRANSACTION DATA BETWEEN DIFFERENT CUSTOMER INTERACTION CHANNELS

• US 20130185196A1
• Filed: 12/27/2012
• Published: 07/18/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 01/18/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cellco Partnership, Inc. (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cellco Partnership, Inc. (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: ANCHALA, Arvindeep Singh, KADUR, Vani R.
• Granted Patent: US 9,659,289 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/39
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/027 involving a payment switch or gateway
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/22 Payment schemes or models
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/389 Keeping log of transactions for guaranteeing non-repudiation of a transaction
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/401 Transaction verification

Abstract

Techniques and equipment for enabling a cross-channel real time awareness framework for capturing and sharing transaction data in real time for a user via an interface of a channel of an enterprise are disclosed. The captured transaction data are made accessible to other channels of the enterprise for processing transactions initiated by the user via an interface of the one of the other channels.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving, from a first channel of an enterprise, transaction data for a current transaction initiated by a user via an interface of the first channel, the enterprise having multiple channels, each channel providing the user with a different type of interface for accessing a service offered by the enterprise;

identifying the user based on the received transaction data, wherein prior transaction data corresponding to one or more prior transactions initiated by the user in at least one second channel of the enterprise is stored within a centralized database of the enterprise;

selecting at least a portion of the stored prior transaction data based on the transaction initiated by the identified user via the interface of the first channel of the enterprise; and

sending the selected portion of the stored prior transaction data to the first channel for processing the current transaction for the user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the received transaction data includes a unique identifier associated with the user, the unique identifier identifies the user across the multiple channels of the enterprise, and the received transaction data is stored in association with the prior transaction data stored for the user.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending step comprises:

converting the selected portion of the stored prior transaction data from a first format into a second format associated with the first channel.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the first format is a channel-independent data format for storing transaction data within the centralized database.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting step comprises:

determining a type of the transaction initiated by the user via the interface of the first channel based on the transaction data received from the first channel;

determining whether the stored prior transaction data is relevant to the determined type of transaction initiated by the user in the first channel; and

when the stored prior transaction data is determined to be relevant to the transaction initiated in the first channel, selecting at least the portion of the stored prior transaction data for the first channel.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

comparing the stored prior transaction data with the received transaction data;

identifying correlations between the stored prior transaction data and the received transaction data based on the comparison; and

directing the first channel to adjust the processing of the current transaction based on the identified correlations and the selected portion of the stored prior transaction data.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

deriving a new transaction opportunity for the user based on the identified correlations between the stored prior transaction data and the received transaction data; and

directing the first channel to adjust the processing of the current transaction by providing the new transaction opportunity to the user via the interface of the first channel.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

determining that the current transaction is a continuation of a previously abandoned transaction based on the identified correlations between the stored prior transaction data and the received transaction data; and

directing the first channel to adjust the processing of the current transaction by continuing the previously abandoned transaction based on the portion of the stored prior transaction data corresponding to the previously abandoned transaction.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the interface of the first channel of the enterprise includes multiple control elements, each control element is encoded with a unique identifier, and the transaction data received from the first channel includes at least one unique identifier associated with one of the multiple control elements of the interface of the first channel.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the step of identifying correlations comprises:

identifying a predefined user interaction based on the unique identifier included within the transaction data, wherein unique identifiers included within the transaction data received from the first channel of the enterprise track the user'"'"'s interactions with one or more of the multiple control elements of the interface of the first channel.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the stored prior transaction data includes a record of the user'"'"'s interactions with an interface of the second channel of the enterprise.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

converting the transaction data received from the first channel of the enterprise to a data format associated with the centralized database; and

storing the converted transaction data within the centralized database in the enterprise in association with a unique global identifier associated with the user.

13. A system, comprising:

a network communication device configured to exchange data communications through a communication network of an enterprise having multiple channels, the communication network including a centralized database accessible to the network communication device;

a processor coupled to the network communication device;

a storage device accessible to the processor; and

an application program in the storage device, the application program including a plurality of functions, wherein execution of the application program by the processor configures the application server to exchange data communications related to the plurality of functions with one or more client devices through the communication network,

wherein the processor is configured to perform functions, including functions to;

receive, from a first channel of an enterprise, transaction data for a transaction initiated by a user via an interface of the first channel, the enterprise having multiple channels, each channel providing the user with a different type of interface for accessing a service offered by the enterprise;

identify the user based on the received transaction data for the transaction initiated in the first channel, wherein prior transaction data corresponding to one or more prior transactions initiated by the user in at least one second channel of the enterprise is stored within a centralized database of the enterprise;

select a portion of the stored prior transaction data based on the transaction initiated by the identified user via the interface of the first channel of the enterprise; and

send the selected portion of the stored prior transaction data to the first channel for processing the current transaction for the user.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the received transaction data includes a unique identifier associated with the user, and the unique identifier identifies the user across the multiple channels of the enterprise.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the send function includes a function to:

convert the selected portion of the stored prior transaction data from a first format into a second format associated with the first channel

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the first format is a channel-independent data format for storing transaction data within the centralized database.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the selection function includes functions to:

determine a type of the transaction initiated by the user via the interface of the first channel based on the transaction data received from the first channel;

determine whether the stored prior transaction data is relevant to the determined type of transaction initiated by the user in the first channel; and

when the stored prior transaction data is determined to be relevant to the transaction initiated in the first channel, select the portion of the stored prior transaction data for the first channel.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to perform functions to:

compare the stored prior transaction data with the transaction data received from the first channel of the enterprise;

identify correlations between the stored prior transaction data and the received transaction data from the first channel of the enterprise based on the comparison; and

derive a new transaction opportunity for the user based on the identified correlations.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the interface of the first channel of the enterprise includes multiple control elements, each control element is encoded with a unique identifier, and the transaction data received from the first channel includes at least one unique identifier associated with one of the multiple control elements of the interface of the first channel.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the function to identify correlations includes functions to:

identify a predefined user interaction based on the unique identifier included within the transaction data, wherein unique identifiers included within the transaction data received from the first channel of the enterprise are used to track the user'"'"'s interactions with one or more of the multiple control elements of the interface of the first channel.

21. The system of claim 13, wherein the stored prior transaction data includes a record of the user'"'"'s interactions with an interface of the second channel of the enterprise.

22. The system of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to perform functions to:

convert the transaction data received from the first channel of the enterprise to a data format associated with the centralized database; and

store the converted transaction data within the centralized database in the enterprise in association with a unique global identifier associated with the user.