Allocating virtual universe customer service

• US 8,296,246 B2
• Filed: 09/02/2008
• Issued: 10/23/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/02/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyndryl Incorporated (Kyndryl Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Hamilton, Rick A. II, O'Connell, Brian M., Pickover, Clifford A., Sand, Anne R., Walker, Keith R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Vetter, Daniel
• Application Number:
  US12/202,649
• Publication Number:
  US 20100058183A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,512 Days
• Field of Search: 705/7.12, 705/7.14, 705/304, 705/319, 705/27.2, 705/346
• US Class Current: 705/346
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

Virtual universe customer service representatives axe cloned and assigned as a function of observing customer behavior, retrieving historical data and creating a customer profile Preferential subavatar assignment parameters are determined for a customer as a function of the customer profile, choosing a subavatar from a plurality of subavatars as a function of a correlation of a subavatar performance characteristic with the preferential subavatar assignment parameter and a store objective, and the clone is populated with the chosen subavatar Choosing a subavatar may comprise preferentially rating subavatars and determining an appropriateness threshold as a function of the subavatar assignment parameter, the performance characteristics and the stole objective. Some embodiments reset a threshold in response to time-in-queue or to repetitively observing customer behavior, retrieving customer data, determining a subavatar assignment parameter and choosing a highest-rated available subavatar meeting a revised threshold. Subavatars may comprise automated, customer service representative-controlled and jointly-controlled subavatars.

Claims

1. A method for allocating customer service representatives in a virtual universe, the method comprising:

in response to a customer avatar entering a virtual universe store that is defined in a virtual universe and that comprises an unavailable original customer service representative avatar, cloning via a processing unit the unavailable original customer service representative avatar and assigning the clone to the customer avatar;

assigning by the processing unit a real-time experience rating value to the customer avatar as a function of parsing a real-time communication from the customer avatar by;

assigning a first real-time experience rating value if the parsed customer communication indicates that the customer is complaining or is actively engaged in conversation with another customer avatar discussing a product item of the store; and

assigning a second real-time experience rating value that is lower than the first real-time experience rating value if the parsed customer communication does not indicate that the customer is complaining or is actively engaged in conversation with another customer avatar discussing the product item of the store;

assigning by the processing unit a historical shopping value to the customer avatar as a function of retrieving historical customer data from a data store by;

assigning a first shopping value if the retrieved historical customer data comprises a total shopping purchase amount that meets a minimum threshold amount, and assigning a second shopping value that is lower than the first shopping value if the retrieved historical customer data comprises a total shopping purchase amount that is below the minimum threshold amount;

creating by the processing unit a customer profile value for the customer avatar as a function of adding the assigned real-time experience rating value to the assigned historical shopping value;

choosing by the processing unit a subavatar as a function of the created customer profile value by choosing a first subavatar that is controlled by a human if the created customer profile value meets a high-priority customer profile requirement threshold, and by choosing a second subavatar that is controlled by an automated artificial agent if the created customer profile value is below the high-priority customer profile requirement threshold; and

populating by the processing unit the assigned clone with the chosen subavatar, wherein the populated clone engages the customer avatar.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein choosing the subavatar by the processing unit further comprises:

preferentially rating each of a plurality of subavatars comprising the first and second subavatars;

determining an appropriateness threshold as a function of the created customer profile value and an objective of the store;

determining whether at least one of the subavatars meets the appropriateness threshold and is available; and

choosing a highest-rated available subavatar of the at least one available subavatars meeting the appropriateness threshold;

or

if no rated subavatars meet the appropriateness threshold and are available, the clone greeting the customer avatar and informing the customer avatar of a delay in service, and adding the customer to a master queue until any of the rated subavatars meet the appropriateness threshold or a revised threshold and are available.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

setting by the processing unit the revised threshold to qualify an available subavatar rated below the appropriateness threshold for choosing in response to the customer residing in the master queue longer than a maximum time-in-queue time.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising the processing unit:

setting the revised threshold by looping repetitively through the steps of observing the customer avatar behavior, retrieving historical customer data, creating the customer profile value, determining the preferential subavatar assignment parameter, and preferentially rating the subavatars;

determining the revised threshold with each loop; and

choosing a highest-rated available subavatar of the at least one available subavatars meeting the revised threshold and available until at least one of the rated subavatars meets the revised threshold.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising the processing unit:

assigning another real-time experience rating value to the customer avatar as a function of observing body traversal movements of the customer avatar by;

assigning a third real-time experience rating value if the observed body traversal movements comprise picking-up or manipulating a store item; and

assigning fourth real-time experience rating value that is lower than the third real-time experience rating value if the observed body traversal movements do not comprise picking-up or manipulating the store item; and

wherein the step of creating the customer profile value for the customer avatar is a function of adding the assigned another real-time experience rating value to the assigned real-time experience rating value and the assigned historical shopping value.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein determining whether at least one of the subavatars meets the appropriateness threshold and is available is a function of a predicted transaction complexity factor or a predicted transaction revenue value.

7. A method for providing a service for allocating customer service representatives in a virtual universe, the method comprising:

providing a processing unit in communication with a computer readable memory and a tangible computer-readable storage device;

wherein the processing unit, when executing program instructions stored on the tangible computer-readable storage device via the computer readable memory;

in response to a customer avatar entering a virtual universe store that is defined in a virtual universe and that comprises an unavailable original customer service representative avatar, clones the unavailable original customer service representative avatar and assigns the clone to the customer avatar;

assigns a real-time experience rating value to the customer avatar as a function of parsing a real-time communication from the customer avatar by;

assigning a first real-time experience rating value if the parsed customer communication indicates that the customer is complaining or is actively engaged in conversation with another customer avatar discussing a product item of the store; and

assigning a second real-time experience rating value that is lower than the first real-time experience rating value if the parsed customer communication does not indicate that the customer is complaining or is actively engaged in conversation with another customer avatar discussing the product item of the store;

assigns a historical shopping value to the customer avatar as a function of retrieving historical customer data from a data store by assigning a first shopping value if the retrieved historical customer data comprises a total shopping purchase amount that meets a minimum threshold amount, and assigning a second shopping value that is lower than the first shopping value if the retrieved historical customer data comprises a total shopping purchase amount that is below the minimum threshold amount;

creates a customer profile value for the customer avatar as a function of adding the assigned real-time experience rating value to the assigned historical shopping value;

chooses a subavatar as a function of the created customer profile value by choosing a first subavatar that is controlled by a human if the created customer profile value meets a high-priority customer profile requirement threshold, and by choosing a second subavatar that is controlled by an automated artificial agent if the created customer profile value is below the high-priority customer profile requirement threshold; and

populates the assigned clone with the chosen subavatar, wherein the populated clone engages the customer avatar.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the processing unit, when executing program instructions stored on the tangible computer-readable storage device via the computer readable memory, chooses the subavatar by:

preferentially rating each of a plurality of subavatars comprising the first and second subavatars;

determining an appropriateness threshold as a function of the created customer profile value and an objective of the store;

determining whether at least one of the subavatars meets the appropriateness threshold and is available; and

choosing a highest-rated available subavatar of the at least one available subavatars meeting the appropriateness threshold;

or

if no rated subavatars meet the appropriateness threshold and are available, the clone greeting the customer avatar and informing the customer avatar of a delay in service, and adding the customer to a master queue until any of the rated subavatars meet the appropriateness threshold or a revised threshold and are available.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the processing unit, when executing program instructions stored on the tangible computer-readable storage device via the computer readable memory, further:

assigns another real-time experience rating value to the customer avatar as a function of observing body traversal movements of the customer avatar by;

assigning a third real-time experience rating value if the observed body traversal movements comprise picking-up or manipulating a store item; and

assigning a fourth real-time experience rating value that is lower than the third real-time experience rating value if the observed body traversal movements do not comprise picking-up or manipulating the store item; and

wherein the processing unit creates the customer profile value for the customer avatar as a function of adding the assigned another real-time experience rating value to the assigned real-time experience rating value and the assigned historical shopping value.

10. A system, comprising:

a processing unit in communication with a computer readable memory and a tangible computer-readable storage device;

wherein the processing unit, when executing program instructions stored on the tangible computer-readable storage device via the computer readable memory;

in response to a customer avatar entering a virtual universe store that is defined in a virtual universe and that comprises an unavailable original customer service representative avatar, clones the unavailable original customer service representative avatar and assigns the clone to the customer avatar;

assigns a real-time experience rating value to the customer avatar as a function of parsing a real-time communication from the customer avatar by

assigning a first real-time experience rating value if the parsed customer communication indicates that the customer is complaining or is actively engaged in conversation with another customer avatar discussing a product item of the store; and

assigning a second real-time experience rating value that is lower than the first real-time experience rating value if the parsed customer communication does not indicate that the customer is complaining or is actively engaged in conversation with another customer avatar discussing the product item of the store;

assigns a historical shopping value to the customer avatar as a function of retrieving historical customer data from a data store by assigning a first shopping value if the retrieved historical customer data comprises a total shopping purchase amount that meets a minimum threshold amount, and assigning a second shopping value that is lower than the first shopping value if the retrieved historical customer data comprises a total shopping purchase amount that is below the minimum threshold amount;

creates a customer profile value for the customer avatar as a function of adding the assigned real-time experience rating value to the assigned historical shopping value;

chooses a subavatar as a function of the created customer profile value by choosing a first subavatar that is controlled by a human if the created customer profile value meets a high-priority customer profile requirement threshold, and by choosing a second subavatar that is controlled by an automated artificial agent if the created customer profile value is below the high-priority customer profile requirement threshold; and

populates the assigned clone with the chosen subavatar, wherein the populated clone engages the customer avatar.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the processing unit, when executing the program instructions stored on the computer-readable storage medium via the computer readable memory, further chooses the subavatar by:

preferentially rating each of a plurality of subavatars comprising the first and second subavatars;

determining an appropriateness threshold as a function of the created customer profile value and an objective of the store;

determining whether at least one of the subavatars meets the appropriateness threshold and is available; and

choosing a highest-rated available subavatar of the at least one available subavatars meeting the appropriateness threshold;

or

if no rated subavatars meet the appropriateness threshold and are available, the clone greeting the customer avatar and informing the customer avatar of a delay in service, and adding the customer to a master queue until any of the rated subavatars meet the appropriateness threshold or a revised threshold and are available.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the processing unit, when executing the program instructions stored on the computer-readable storage medium via the computer readable memory, further:

assigns another real-time experience rating value to the customer avatar as a function of observing body traversal movements of the customer avatar by;

assigning a third real-time experience rating value if the observed body traversal movements comprise picking-up or manipulating a store item; and

assigning a fourth real-time experience rating value that is lower than the third real-time experience rating value if the observed body traversal movements do not comprise picking-up or manipulating the store item; and

wherein the processing unit creates the customer profile value for the customer avatar as a function of adding the assigned another real-time experience rating value to the assigned real-time experience rating value and the assigned historical shopping value.

13. An article of manufacture, comprising:

a computer readable tangible storage device having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code comprising instructions that, when executed by a computer processing unit, cause the computer processing unit to;

in response to a customer avatar entering a virtual universe store that is defined in a virtual universe and that comprises an unavailable original customer service representative avatar, clone the unavailable original customer service representative avatar and assign the clone to the customer avatar;

assign a real-time experience rating value to the customer avatar as a function of parsing a real-time communication from the customer avatar by;

assigning a first real-time experience rating value if the parsed customer communication indicates that the customer is complaining or is actively engaged in conversation with another customer avatar discussing a product item of the store; and

assigning a second real-time experience rating value that is lower than the first real-time experience rating value if the parsed customer communication does not indicate that the customer is complaining or is actively engaged in conversation with another customer avatar discussing the product item of the store;

assign a historical shopping value to the customer avatar as a function of retrieving historical customer data from a data store by assigning a first shopping value if the retrieved historical customer data comprises a total shopping purchase amount that meets a minimum threshold amount, and assigning a second shopping value that is lower than the first shopping value if the retrieved historical customer data comprises a total shopping purchase amount that is below the minimum threshold amount;

create a customer profile value for the customer avatar as a function of adding the assigned real-time experience rating value to the assigned historical shopping value;

choose a subavatar as a function of the created customer profile value by choosing a first subavatar that is controlled by a human if the created customer profile value meets a high-priority customer profile requirement threshold, and by choosing a second subavatar that is controlled by an automated artificial agent if the created customer profile value is below the high-priority customer profile requirement threshold; and

populate the assigned clone with the chosen subavatar, wherein the populated clone engages the customer avatar.

14. The article of manufacture of claim 13, wherein the computer readable program code instructions, when executed by the computer processing unit, further cause the computer processing unit to choose the subavatar by:

preferentially rating each of a plurality of subavatars comprising the first and second subavatars;

determining an appropriateness threshold as a function of the created customer profile value and an objective of the store;

determining whether at least one of the subavatars meets the appropriateness threshold and is available; and

choosing a highest-rated available subavatar of the at least one available subavatars meeting the appropriateness threshold;

or

if no rated subavatars meet the appropriateness threshold and are available, the clone greeting the customer avatar and informing the customer avatar of a delay in service, and adding the customer to a master queue until any of the rated subavatars meet the appropriateness threshold or a revised threshold and are available.

15. The article of manufacture of claim 14, wherein the computer readable program code instructions, when executed by the computer processing unit, further cause the computer processing unit to:

assign another real-time experience rating value to the customer avatar as a function of observing body traversal movements of the customer avatar-by;

assigning a third real-time experience rating value if the observed body traversal movements comprise picking-up or manipulating a store item; and

assigning a fourth real-time experience rating value that is lower than the third real-time experience rating value if the observed body traversal movements do not comprise picking-up or manipulating the store item; and

wherein the processing unit creates the customer profile value for the customer avatar as a function of adding the assigned another real-time experience rating value to the assigned real-time experience rating value and the assigned historical shopping value.