Method, system, and program for customer service and support management

• US 7,792,889 B1
• Filed: 10/31/2007
• Issued: 09/07/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Alorica Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Alorica Incorporated
• Inventors: Sun, Shyh-Tyng Edward, Hao, Paul, Lee, Andy Ming, Tran, Vu, Edwards, Carrie Renner, Tseng, Tracy, Hsu, Hysh-Min, Dentz, Connie, Chi, Samuel Jen-Chang
• Primary Examiner(s): Corrielus; Jean M
• Application Number:
  US11/933,088
• Time in Patent Office: 1,042 Days
• Field of Search: 707/999.1, 707/999.2, 707/948, 707/949
• US Class Current: N/A
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

Managing customer and product information over a network using a multi-functional management tool uses a computer which is programmed for generating a customer database including customer records, wherein each customer record tracks a customer. The computer updates the customer database from information received from the customer to add or modify a specific customer record indicating customer contact and product purchase information about the customer. The computer is used for updating the product database from information received from a client to add or modify a specific product record indicating product and inventory information about the product. The information can include a troubleshooting sequence for the specific product and a specific problem. One option during at least one part of said troubleshooting sequence includes at least one part sale option as an upselling operation.

Claims

1. A method for managing customer and product information over a network using a multi-functional management tool, comprising:

using a computer which is programmed for generating a customer database including customer records, wherein each customer record tracks a customer and is programmed for generating a product database including product records, wherein each product record tracks a product and is programmed for updating the customer database from information received from the customer to add or modify a specific customer record indicating customer contact and product purchase information about the customer;

using the computer for updating the product database from information received from a client to add or modify a specific product record indicating product and inventory information about the product;

said generating and updating comprising generating and updating in a storage unit;

said computer providing product and customer record information in the database to a requesting client representative;

said computer receiving product information and trouble information, including symptoms of a trouble from the requesting client representative, where the trouble information represents a problem with the product;

based on said product information and trouble information, reading from the storage unit, and providing to the customer service representative, a troubleshooting sequence for the specific product and the specific problem, where said troubleshooting sequence includes possible solutions that are associated with symptoms that are entered,

and where one option during at least one part of said troubleshooting sequence includes at least one part sale option, where the customer service representative provides information to the user about purchasing a part, and where that part is responsive to at least one result of said troubleshooting sequence, and where at least one part of the troubleshooting sequence includes an offer of sale of an upsell product or service, where said upsell product or service is not based on said symptoms, and where said part of the troubleshooting sequence also includes a routine for accepting payment information from the customer responsive to said upsell product or service.

2. A method as in claim 1, wherein said upsell product or service comprises a sale of an extended warranty service for the product.

3. A method as in claim 1, further comprising executing an action on the computer that sells parts to the user based on the troubleshooting.

4. A method as in claim 3, further comprising providing information to the user that provides an alternative self-service way of obtaining the parts.

5. A method as in claim 2, wherein said upsell product or service comprises a sale of other products that may be used with the product received from the client.

6. A method as in claim 2, further comprising, in the computer, maintaining a list of contacts each time the customer is spoken to by the customer service representative.

7. A method as in claim 6, further comprising automatically producing a count of a number of times that the customer has called.

8. A method as in claim 2, wherein said information about problems and resolutions comprises a flowchart that has many different products and many different problems in the many different products, and troubleshooting information for the products and problems.

9. A method as in claim 2 wherein said computer method receives information from each of said customer database and product database and creates an HTML input page based on said information.

10. A system, comprising:

a computer system, having a database and a customer service tool, wherein said database includes a first set of records defining information about a customer, including at least information about multiple products owned by the customer, a second database including a second set of records defining a user database of information about a customer service representative who interacts with the customers, where the user database includes at least information about possible problems and resolutions associated with the products that are stored in said customer database, and a third set of records including product information, including information for each of a plurality of different products that can be supported by said customer service representatives on said computer system,

wherein said customer service tool accepts login information from a customer service representative, and responsive to said login information, provides information to the customer service representative, where the customer service tool provides information for the customer service representative about steps to gather information about a current communication with a customer including a customer and a product and a problem with the product, and based on said data indicative of the customer and the product and the problem, creates a troubleshooting sequence for the specific product and problem,

where the computer creates a troubleshooting sequence for the specific product that includes possible solutions that are associated with symptoms that are entered, and where said troubleshooting sequence includes at least one option that controls selling at least one part to sale to a user, said at least one part related to said problem and said troubleshooting sequence, and said troubleshooting sequence also provides at least one upsale routine for the customer service representative to offer to said customer, where the upsale routine offers at least one product or service that is not based on said problem and is not suggested by said troubleshooting sequence information, and said upsale routine also accepting payment information from the customer responsive to said up sale information.

11. A system as in claim 10, wherein said upsale routine comprises an offer of a sale of an extended warranty service for the product.

12. A system as in claim 10, wherein said upsale routine comprises a sale of products other products that may be used with the product.

13. A system as in claim 10, wherein said at least one option that controls selling at least one part to sale to a user further comprising selling parts to the user based on the troubleshooting.

14. A system as in claim 13, further comprising providing information to the user that provides customer with an alternative self-service way of obtaining the parts.

15. A system as in claim 10, wherein said computer system updates the first set of records to keep a list of each time talking to the customer.

16. A system as in claim 10, wherein said information about problems and resolutions comprises a flowchart that has many different products and many different problems in the many different products, and troubleshooting information for the products and problems.

17. A system as in claim 10 wherein said computer system receives information from each of said first set of records, said second set of records and said third set of records, and creates an HTML input page based on said information.

18. A computer readable storage medium storing processor executable instructions that when by a processor cause the processor to manage customer and product information over a network using a multiple functional management tool, comprising:

accessing a storage unit that stores customer database that includes a plurality of customer records, wherein each customer record in said customer database tracks a customer, where at least a plurality of different customers include unique records within said customer database;

accessing a product database stored in said storage unit that includes a plurality of product records and wherein each product record tracks a product and wherein said product database has corresponding warranty information for at least plural of said products, where at least a plurality of different products include unique records within said product database;

accessing a user database stored in said storage unit that includes a plurality of user records, wherein each user record tracks a user of said products, where at least a plurality of different users include unique records within said user database;

receiving information from a customer, and based on said information, determining if a record exists for said customer, and creating a customer record in said storage unit associated with said customer if said determining determines that said customer record for said customer does not exist, and update said customer record based on said information received from the customer to modify said customer record based on said information, where said customer record includes customer information and product information associated with said customer and where said customer record is updated based on said receiving;

updating said product database based on information received from said customer to add or modify at least a product record;

receive product information and trouble information from the requesting client representative, where the trouble information represents a problem with the product;

reading from the storage unit, and providing to the customer service representative, based on said product information and trouble information, a troubleshooting sequence for the specific product and the specific problem,

wherein the trouble information includes entering symptoms for the trouble, and the troubleshooting sequence for the specific product includes possible solutions that are associated with the symptoms that are entered, wherein one option during at least one part of said troubleshooting sequence includes at least one part sale option, wherein the customer service representative provides information to the user about purchasing a part, and where that part is responsive to at least one result of said troubleshooting sequence, wherein at least one part of the troubleshooting sequence includes an offer of an upsell product or service, wherein said upsell product or service is different than any of the options that are presented relative to said symptoms, and wherein said part of the troubleshooting sequence also includes a routine for accepting payment information from the customer responsive to said upsell product or service; and

responsive to a report request, accessing all of said customer database as updated with said customer information, said user database as updated based on said interaction with said customer, and product database as updated based on interaction with said client, to acquire said requested information to create an electronically-accessible report containing said requested information from all of said customer database, said user database, and said product database and to provide said electronically-accessible report.

19. The computer readable storage medium of claim 18, further comprising executable instructions for causing a computing system to:

obtain a template for a requested report, said template in an HTML form, and populate said template with information from said databases, to create a report formed of multiple linked HTML web pages.

20. The computer readable storage medium of claim 19, further comprising executable instructions for causing a computing system to:

populate different fields in the report from different databases, to form said report, where at least a first field in the report is populated from said customer database, a second field in the report is populated from said product database as updated based on interaction with said customer, and a third field in the report is populated from said user database as updated based on interaction with said customer.