Method and system for online helpdesk

• US 20160078040A1
• Filed: 11/22/2015
• Published: 03/17/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/16/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lantirn Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Jinsheng Wang, Lu Wang
• Inventors: Wang, Lu, Wang, Jinsheng
• Granted Patent: US 10,423,966 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/113 Details of archiving lifecycle management in storage systems G06F3/0649; backup systems G06F11/1446
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/245 Query processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/016 After-sales
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/066 Format adaptation, e.g. format conversion or compression
• 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]

Abstract

Method and system for online helpdesk are disclosed. According to one embodiment, a CustomerOps platform is designed to provide customer operations to a plurality of businesses large or small. By providing a server or a cluster of servers, various activities (e.g., inquiries and responses) between a user and a business are captured and the data stream thereof is archived to a designated server. The stored data can be retrieved to view the various activities so as to engage the user contextually whenever there is a need. Such a CustomerOps platform facilitates efficient and more relevant human or automated assistance when the user desires to get engaged with the business that provides a service/product interesting to the user.

Claims

1. A method for providing a helpdesk platform, the method comprising:

registering a plurality of service providers on a server by assigning an identifier (ID) to each of the service providers;

registering a plurality of users interacting with a service provider by assigning an identifier (ID) to each of the users, wherein the service provider is one of the registered service providers;

archiving automatically data pertaining to activities in a store how a user has interacted with the service provider and identifying what communication channels the activities have taken place respectively, wherein the data is appended with information of the communication channels;

retrieving some or all of the activities from the store when receiving over a data network an inquiry from the user interfacing with the service provider, wherein the retrieving is performed automatically per the ID of the user; and

responding to the user in a format specific to one of the communication channels the user has used to create the inquiry.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the one of the communication channels is by email, by messaging, by posting a webpage or by an application.

3. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein said responding to the user in a format specific to the one of the communication channels comprises:

determining characteristics of the one of the communication channels;

formatting a response to the inquiry from the user appropriate for transmission in the one of the communication channels, wherein the response includes an input from the service provider, the input is to respond to the inquiry.

4. The method as recited in claim 3, further comprising:

transporting the response to the user via the one of the communication channels.

5. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the response includes some but not all of the activities from the store.

6. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein the user sees from the response a copy of his inquiry and the input from the service provider.

7. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the response is created in a way that the user retrieves all of the activities from the store when the user desires so.

8. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the user sees from the response a copy of his inquiry and the input from the service provider along with all of the activities in the past.

9. The method as recited in claim 6, further comprising:

archiving automatically the response by appending the response to the copy of activities in the store to update the activities the user has interfaced with the service provider.

10. A method for providing a helpdesk platform, the method comprising:

activating a module embedded in an application provided by a service provider;

sending an inquiry by the module to a server over a data network after the inquiry is created by a user while the user is interacting with the application, wherein the inquiry includes an identifier (ID) of the service provider and an ID of the user, the server is configured to archive automatically in a store data pertaining to activities how the user has interacted with the application and identify what communication channels the activities have taken place; and

allowing the service provider to respond to the inquiry via the server, wherein the server is caused to send a response to the user via one of the communication channels the user has used to create the inquiry, and the data is updated to include the inquiry.

11. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein the one of the communication channels is by email, by messaging, by posting a webpage or by an application.

12. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein the response includes some but not all of the activities from the store.

13. The method as recited in claim 12 wherein the user sees from the response a copy of his inquiry and the input from the service provider.

14. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein the response is created in a way that the user retrieves all of the activities from the store when the user desires so.

15. The method as recited in claim 14, wherein the user sees from the response a copy of his inquiry and the input from the service provider along with all of the activities in the past.

16. A system for providing a helpdesk platform, the system comprising:

a server configured to register a plurality of service providers by assigning an identifier (ID) to each of the service providers and a plurality of users interacting with a service provider by assigning an identifier (ID) to each of the users, wherein the service provider is one of the registered service providers, the server configured to perform operations of;

archiving automatically data pertaining to activities in a store a user has interacted with the service provider and identifying what communication channels the activities have taken place respectively, wherein the data is appended with information of the communication channels;

retrieving some or all of the activities from the store when receiving over a data network an inquiry from the user interfacing with the service provider, wherein the retrieving is performed automatically per the ID of the user; and

responding to the user in a format specific to one of the communication channels the user has used to create the inquiry.

17. The system as recited in claim 16, wherein the one of the communication channels is by email, by messaging, by posting a webpage or by an application.

18. The system as recited in claim 17, wherein said responding to the user in a format specific to the one of the communication channels comprises operations of:

determining characteristics of the one of the communication channels;

formatting a response to the inquiry from the user appropriate for transmission in the one of the communication channels, wherein the response includes an input from the service provider, the input is to respond to the inquiry; and

transporting the response to the user via the one of the communication channels.

19. The system as recited in claim 18, wherein the response includes some but not all of the activities from the store.

20. The system as recited in claim 19, wherein the user sees from the response a copy of his inquiry and the input from the service provider.

21. The system as recited in claim 18, wherein the response is created in a way that the user retrieves all of the activities from the store when the user desires so.

22. The system as recited in claim 19, wherein the user sees from the response a copy of his inquiry and the input from the service provider along with all of the activities in the past.

23. The system as recited in claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise:

archiving automatically the response by appending the response to the data of activities in the store to update the activities the user has interfaced with the service provider.