Routing based on the contents of a shopping cart

• US 7,844,504 B1
• Filed: 09/25/2000
• Issued: 11/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/27/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Inventors: Kumar, Bharat, Hull, Richard B., Irwig, Kevin George, Anderson, Gregory L., Flockhart, Andrew D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Alvarez; Raquel
• Application Number:
  US09/669,486
• Time in Patent Office: 3,718 Days
• Field of Search: 705/26.77, 705/27, 705/26, 379/93.12, 379/266.02
• US Class Current: 705/26.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0253 During e-commerce, i.e. online transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a method and system for routing contacts in a contact center based on a number of factors including the value or nature of items in an order of the customer associated with the contact. The invention is particularly useful in E-commerce web-sites in which electronic orders are generated by the customer.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

(a) providing, by a server, on a first communication channel, and as part of a first contact with a customer, the first contact being a potential sales transaction with the customer, at least one web page to a web browser executing on a computer associated with the customer, wherein the customer selects, for possible purchase, a set of one or more items from the provided at least one web page;

(b) receiving, by the server, from the customer, and as part of the same sales transaction, a request for servicing by an agent of a contact center, wherein the servicing is to be effected by a second contact of the contact center with the customer on a second communication channel different from the first communication channel;

(c) downloading, by the server and onto the computer executing the customer'"'"'s web browser, an applet;

(d) receiving, by the server and from the applet, an evaluation of at least one item in the set of one or more items to identify at least one of (i) an item value and (ii) item type in the set, wherein step (d) is performed by the applet when the applet is being executed by the customer'"'"'s computer; and

(e) routing, by the server, the request of the customer to a selected agent in the contact center, the selected agent being selected based, at least in part, on the identified at least one of (i) item value and (ii) item type, wherein the set of one or more items is a shopping cart, wish cart, and/or wish list.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein a first contact on the first communication channel is a Web browsing session, wherein the second contact on the second communication channel is one of a live voice communication, an electronic mail message, and a facsimile, wherein the second contact is an outgoing contact from the selected agent to the customer, and wherein part of the first and second contacts overlap temporally.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the request is an incoming communication from the customer and wherein the routing step is based, at least in part, on item value.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the request is a request for an outgoing call from the contact center to the customer and wherein the routing step is based, at least in part, on item value.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the identified item value is contained in a cookie received from the customer'"'"'s computer.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the request is associated with the customer'"'"'s selection of an icon on the at least one web page and wherein the routing step is based, at least in part, on item type.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected routing destination is based, at least in part, on an item value in the set and further comprising:

comparing the item value with a predetermined value to determine the agent destination of the routing step.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the item value is the highest value of an item in the set.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the item value is the total value of the items in the set.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the item value is the average value of the items in the set.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected routing destination is based, at least in part, on a type of item in the set and further comprising:

comparing the item type with a list of items to determine the agent destination of the routing step.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected routing destination is based, at least in part, on both item type and value.

13. A computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions for performing the steps of claim 1.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the routing of the customer'"'"'s request is based, at least in part, on both item type and value.

15. A system, comprising:

a server, executing on a first computer, operable (a) to provide, on a first communication channel and as part of a first contact and a potential sales transaction with a customer, at least one web page to a web browser executing on a second computer associated with the customer, wherein the customer selects, for possible acquisition, a set of one or more items from the provided at least one web page; and

(b) to receive, from the customer and as part of the same sales transaction, a request for servicing by an agent of a contact center, wherein the servicing is to be effected by a second contact of the contact center with the customer on a second communication channel different from the first communication channel;

an evaluator operable to evaluate at least one item in the set of one or more items to identify at least one of (i) an item value and (ii) item type in the set; and

a router operable to route the request of the customer to a selected agent in the contact center, the selected agent being selected based, at least in part, on the identified at least one of (i) item value and (ii) item type, wherein the server is operable (c) to effect downloading, onto the second computer executing the customer'"'"'s web browser, an applet and wherein the applet comprises the evaluator.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the first communication channel is a Web browsing session, wherein the second contact is one of a live voice communication, an electronic mail message, and a facsimile, and wherein the first an second contacts occur simultaneously.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the request is an incoming communication from the customer and wherein the at least one of (i) item value and (ii) item type is item value.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the routing of the customer'"'"'s request is based, at least in part, on an item value in the set and wherein the identified item value is contained in a cookie received from the customer'"'"'s computer.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the set of one or more items is a shopping cart, wish cart, and/or wish list.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the request is a request for an outgoing call from the contact center to the customer and wherein the at least one of (i) item value and (ii) item type is item value.

21. The system of claim 15, wherein the request is associated with the customer'"'"'s selection of an icon on the at least one web page and wherein the at least one of (i) item value and (ii) item type is item type.

22. The system of claim 15, wherein the router is operable to compare the item value with a predetermined value to determine the request'"'"'s routing destination.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the item value is the highest value of an item in the set.

24. The system of claim 22, wherein the item value is the total value of the items in the set.

25. The system of claim 22, wherein the item value is the average value of the items in the set.

26. The system of claim 15, wherein the routing of the customer'"'"'s request is based, at least in part, on a type of item in the set and wherein the router is operable to compare the item type with a list of items to determine the request'"'"'s routing destination.

27. A method for routing contacts in an E-commerce contact center, comprising:

(a) providing, by a server, on a first communication channel, and as part of a potential sales transaction with a customer, at least one web page to a web browser, executing on a computer, associated with the customer, wherein the customer selects, for possible purchase, a set of one or more items from the provided at least one web page;

(b) receiving, by the server, from the customer, and as part of the same sales transaction, a request for servicing by an agent of a contact center, wherein the servicing is to be effected on a second communication channel different from the first communication channel;

(c) downloading, by the server and onto the computer executing the customer'"'"'s web browser, an applet comprising an evaluator;

(d) evaluating, by the downloaded evaluator, at least one item in the set of one or more items to identify at least one of (i) a value of one or more items and (ii) a type of one or more items in the set;

(e) receiving, by the server, from the downloaded evaluator an identified at least one of (i) a value of one or more items and (ii) a type of one or more items in the set;

(f) routing the request of the customer to a selected agent in the contact center, the selected agent being selected based, at least in part, on the identified at least one of (i) a value of one or more items and (ii) a type of one or more items in the set.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the first communication channel is a Web browsing session, wherein the web browsing session is a first contact between the contact center and customer, wherein the second communication channel is used by a second contact between the contact center and customer, wherein the second contact is one of a live voice communication, an electronic mail message, and a facsimile, and wherein the first and second contacts occur concurrently.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein the set of one or more items is a shopping cart, wish cart, or wish list.

30. The method of claim 27, wherein the request is an incoming communication from the customer.

31. The method of claim 27, wherein the request is a request for an outgoing call from the contact center to the customer.

32. The method of claim 27, wherein the request is associated with the customer'"'"'s selection of an icon on the at least one web page.

33. The method of claim 27, wherein the identified at least one of (i) a value of one or more items and (ii) a type of one or more items in the set is contained in a cookie received from the customer'"'"'s computer.

34. The method of claim 27, wherein the selected routing destination is based, at least in part, on (i) and further comprising:

comparing the item value with a predetermined value to determine the agent destination of the routing step.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the item value is the highest value of an item in the set.

36. The method of claim 34, wherein the item value is the total value of the items in the set.

37. The method of claim 34, wherein the item value is the average value of the items in the set.

38. The method of claim 27, wherein the selected routing destination is based, at least in part, on (ii) and further comprising:

comparing the item type with a list of items to determine the agent destination of the routing step.

39. The method of claim 27, wherein the selected routing destination is based, at least in part, on both (i) and (ii).

40. A computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions for performing the steps of claim 27.

41. A method, comprising:

(a) providing, by a server, on a first communication channel, and as part of a first contact with a customer, the first contact being a potential sales transaction with the customer, at least one web page to a web browser executing on a computer associated with the customer, wherein the customer selects, for possible purchase, a set of one or more items from the provided at least one web page;

(b) receiving, by the server, from the customer, and as part of the same sales transaction, a request for servicing by an agent of a contact center, wherein the servicing is to be effected by a second contact with the customer on a second communication channel different from the first communication channel;

(c) receiving, by the server, an evaluation of at least one item in the set of one or more items to identify at least one of (i) an item value and (ii) item type in the set; and

(d) routing, by the server, the request of the customer to a selected agent in the contact center, the selected agent being selected based, at least in part, on the identified at least one of (i) item value and (ii) item type, wherein the set of one or more items is a shopping cart, wish cart, and/or wish list.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein step (c) comprises:

analyzing a web form to evaluate the at least one item in the set of one or more items.

43. The method of claim 41, further comprising:

downloading, onto the computer executing the customer'"'"'s web browser, an applet, wherein the applet evaluates the at least one item in the set of one or more items.

44. The method of claim 41, wherein a first contact on the first communication channel is a Web browsing session, wherein the second contact on the second communication channel is one of a live voice communication, an electronic mail message, and a facsimile, wherein the second contact is an outgoing contact from the selected agent to the customer, and wherein part of the first and second contacts overlap temporally.

45. The method of claim 41, wherein the request is an incoming communication from the customer, wherein the request is a request for an outgoing call from the contact center to the customer, and wherein the routing step is based, at least in part, on item value.

46. The method of claim 41, wherein the request is associated with the customer'"'"'s selection of an icon on the at least one web page and wherein the routing step is based, at least in part, on an identified item value in the set.

47. The method of claim 46, wherein the identified item value is contained in a cookie received from the customer'"'"'s computer.

48. The method of claim 41, wherein the request is associated with the customer'"'"'s selection of an icon on the at least one web page and wherein the routing step is based, at least in part, on an identified item type in the set.

49. The method of claim 41, wherein the selected routing destination is based, at least in part, on an identified item value in the set and further comprising:

comparing the identified item value with a predetermined value to determine the agent destination of the routing step.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein the item value is the highest value of an item in the set.

51. The method of claim 49, wherein the item value is the total value of the items in the set.

52. The method of claim 49, wherein the item value is the average value of the items in the set.

53. The method of claim 41, wherein the selected routing destination is based, at least in part, on an identified type of item in the set and further comprising:

comparing the item type with a list of items to determine the agent destination of the routing step.

54. The method of claim 41, wherein the selected routing destination is based, at least in part, on both item type and value.

55. A computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions for performing the steps of claim 41.

56. A contact center, comprising:

a plurality of agents to service contacts from customers; and

a server operable to;

(a) provide, on a first communication channel and as part of a first contact with a customer, the first contact being a potential sales transaction with the customer, at least one web page to a web browser associated with the customer, wherein the customer selects, for possible purchase, a set of one or more items from the provided at least one web page;

(b) receive, from the customer and as part of the same sales transaction, a request for servicing by a selected agent of the contact center, wherein the servicing is to be effected by a second contact with the customer on a second communication channel different from the first communication channel;

(c) receive an evaluation of at least one item in the set of one or more items to identify at least one of (i) an item value and (ii) item type in the set; and

(d) route the request of the customer to an agent in the contact center, the agent being selected based, at least in part, on the identified at least one of (i) item value and (ii) item type, wherein the set of one or more items is a shopping cart, wish cart, and/or wish list.

57. The contact center of claim 56, wherein an evaluator analyzes a web form to evaluate the at least one item in the set of one or more items.

58. The contact center of claim 56, further comprising:

an applet, executing on a computer of the customer, wherein the applet evaluates the at least one item in the set of one or more items.

59. The contact center of claim 56, wherein a first contact on the first communication channel is a Web browsing session, wherein the second contact on the second communication channel is one of a live voice communication, an electronic mail message, and a facsimile, wherein the second contact is an outgoing contact from the selected agent to the customer, and wherein part of the first and second contacts overlap temporally.

60. The contact center of claim 59, wherein the request is an incoming communication from the customer, wherein the request is a request for an outgoing call from the contact center to the customer, and wherein the routing operation is based, at least in part, on item value.

61. The contact center of claim 56, wherein the request is associated with the customer'"'"'s selection of an icon on the at least one web page and wherein the routing operation is based, at least in part, on an identified item value in the set.

62. The contact center of claim 61, wherein the identified item value is contained in a cookie received from the customer'"'"'s computer.

63. The contact center of claim 56, wherein the request is associated with the customer'"'"'s selection of an icon on the at least one web page and wherein the routing operation is based, at least in part, on an identified item type in the set.

64. The contact center of claim 56, wherein the selected routing destination is based, at least in part, on an identified item value in the set and further comprising:

a comparer to compare the item value with a predetermined value to determine the agent destination of the routing step.

65. The contact center of claim 64, wherein the item value is the highest value of an item in the set.

66. The contact center of claim 64, wherein the item value is the total value of the items in the set.

67. The contact center of claim 64, wherein the item value is the average value of the items in the set.

68. The contact center of claim 56, wherein the selected routing destination is based, at least in part, on an identified type of item in the set and further comprising:

a comparer to compare the item type with a list of items to determine the agent destination of the routing step.

69. The contact center of claim 56, wherein the selected routing destination is based, at least in part, on both item type and value.