Initiating a support chat session in response to the occurrence of a support event with transmission of detailed event information

• US 8,762,862 B2
• Filed: 06/05/2008
• Issued: 06/24/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Singh, Ram Pratap, Pulsipher, Jon D., Lafornara, Philip J.
• Primary Examiner(s): TITCOMB, WILLIAM D
• Application Number:
  US12/134,178
• Publication Number:
  US 20090307612A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,210 Days
• Field of Search: 715/758, 715/748, 714/57
• US Class Current: 715/758
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

Technologies are described herein for launching an online support chat session in response to an occurrence of a support event on a personal computer and transmitting detailed event information via the chat session for display to support personnel. When an error or other event occurs on a computer, an online support chat session is established using an online support chat client associated with the error or event. The pertinent information about the error or event along with additional data regarding the computer and the user are transmitted via the online support chat session for display to the support personnel.

Claims

1. A method for responding to a support event on a computer by establishing an online support chat session, the method comprising:

storing a plurality of event definitions on the computer, each event definition corresponding to a particular support event, where each event definition comprises,

a corresponding combination of trigger conditions on the computer including at least one of a hardware error, a software error or a condition for which a user may need technical support,

a corresponding designation of a target support provider based upon a context of the support event that occurs,

a corresponding identifier of an online support chat client that will be utilized to establish the online support chat session with support personnel associated with the corresponding designated target support provider, and

corresponding alternative content regarding the support event,

at least two different event definitions of the plurality of event definitions stored on the computer include respective different corresponding combinations of trigger conditions, different corresponding designations of target support providers, different corresponding identifiers of online support chat clients and different corresponding alternative content;

upon the detection of a first combination of trigger conditions satisfying a first of the at least two different event definitions, collecting data regarding the computer and a user of the computer, and attempting to establish a first online support chat session with first support personnel of a first designated target support provider by executing a first online support chat client associated with a first support event;

upon the detection of a second combination of trigger conditions satisfying a second of the at least two different event definitions, collecting data regarding the computer and the user of the computer, and attempting to establish a second online support chat session with second support personnel associated of a second designated target support provider by executing a second online support chat client associated with a second support event;

determining if the first or second online support chat session was properly established and if properly established, causing event information and the data regarding the computer and the user to be transmitted to the first or second support system respectively for display to the respective first or second support personnel associated with the respective first or second designated target support provider via the respective first or second online support chat client; and

determining if the first or second online support chat session was not properly established, and if not properly established, displaying first or second different corresponding alternative content respectively associated with the first and second of the at least two different event definitions regarding the respective first or second support event to the user of the computer.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

upon detecting the combination of trigger conditions, determining whether the user wishes to establish the online support chat session in response to the support event; and

establishing the online support chat session only in response to determining that the user wishes to establish the online support chat session.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the data regarding the computer and the user comprises one or more of information identifying a hardware and software configuration of the computer, information identifying the user, and information identifying a support account for the user and the computer.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein collecting the data regarding the computer and the user comprises retrieving information regarding the computer and the user previously collected and stored in a non-volatile storage of the computer.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein causing the event information and the data regarding the computer and the user to be transmitted to the first or second support system comprises:

upon establishing the first or second online support chat session, determining whether the user consents to transmission of the data regarding the computer and the user;

causing the event information and the data regarding the computer and the user to be transmitted to the first or second support system via the corresponding first or second online support chat client in response to determining that the user consents to transmission of the data regarding the computer and the user; and

causing only the event information to be transmitted to the first or second support system via the corresponding first or second online support chat client in response to determining that the user does not consent to transmission of the data regarding the computer and the user.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein determining whether the user consents to transmission of the data regarding the computer and the user is not performed upon a subsequent occurrence of launching the first or second online support chat client for the user on the computer.

7. A magnetic storage device, a solid state storage device, or an optical disk having computer executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

storing a plurality of event definitions on the computer, each event definition corresponding to a particular support event, where each event definition comprises,

a corresponding combination of trigger conditions on the computer including at least one of a hardware error, a software error or a condition for which a user may need technical support,

a corresponding designation of a target support provider being based upon a context of the support event that occurs,

a corresponding identifier of an online support chat client that will be utilized to establish the online support chat session with support personnel associated with the corresponding designated target support provider, and

corresponding alternative content regarding the support event,

at least two different event definitions of the plurality of event definitions stored on the computer include respective different corresponding combinations of trigger conditions, different corresponding designations of target support providers, different corresponding identifiers of online support chat clients and different corresponding alternative content;

upon the detection of a first combination of trigger conditions satisfying a first of the at least two different event definitions, determine a first location of a first identified online support chat client, collect data regarding the computer and user, and attempt to launch the first identified online support chat client with first support personnel of a first designated target support provider;

upon the detection of a second combination of trigger conditions satisfying a second of the at least two different event definitions, determine a second location of a second identified online support chat client, collect data regarding the computer and user, and attempt to launch the second identified online support chat client with second support personnel of a second designated target support provider;

determine if the first or second identified online support chat client launched successfully, and if the identified online support chat client launched successfully, transmit event information and the data regarding the computer and the user to the respective first or second support personnel associated with the respective first or second designated target support provider via the respective first or second online support chat client; and

determine if the first or second identified online support chat client did not launch successfully, and if not launched successfully, display first or second different corresponding alternative content respectively associated with the first and second of the at least two different event definitions regarding the respective first or second support event to a user of the computer.

8. The magnetic storage device, solid state storage device, or optical disk of claim 7, wherein the data regarding the computer and the user comprises one or more of information identifying a hardware and software configuration of the computer, information identifying the user, and information identifying a support account for the user and the computer.

9. The magnetic storage device, solid state storage device, or optical disk of claim 7, wherein collecting the data regarding the computer and the user comprises retrieving the data regarding the computer and the user previously collected and stored in a non-volatile storage of the computer.

10. The magnetic storage device, solid state storage device, or optical disk of claim 7, having further computer executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

upon launching the identified first or second online support chat client, prompt the user for consent to transmit the data regarding the computer and the user to corresponding first or second support personnel;

if the user consents, transmit the event information and the data regarding the computer and the user to corresponding first or second support personnel via the corresponding first or second online support chat client;

if the user does not consent, transmit only the event information to corresponding first or second support personnel via the corresponding first or second online support chat client; and

storing a consent flag associated with the identified first or second online support chat client, the consent flag indicating a response of the user to the consent prompt and utilized to determine the consent of the user to transmit the data regarding the computer and the user to first or second support personnel in a subsequent launch of the associated first or second online support chat client.

11. A method for launching an online support chat client on a computer, the method comprising:

storing a plurality of event definitions on the computer, each event definition corresponding to a particular support event, where each event definition comprises,

a corresponding combination of trigger conditions on the computer including at least one of a hardware error, a software error or a condition for which a user may need technical support,

a corresponding designation of a target support provider based upon a context of the support event that occurs,

a corresponding identifier of the online support chat client that will be utilized to establish the online support chat session with support personnel associated with the corresponding designated target support provider, and

corresponding alternative content regarding the support event,

at least two different event definitions of the plurality of event definitions stored on the computer include respective different corresponding combinations of trigger conditions, different corresponding designations of target support providers, different corresponding identifiers of online support chat clients and different corresponding alternative content;

upon the detection of a first combination of trigger conditions satisfying a first of the at least two different event definitions, retrieving a first file name of a first online support chat client to launch and retrieving data regarding the computer and a user of the computer;

upon retrieving the data regarding the computer and the user, displaying a prompt asking whether the user consents to the data regarding the computer and the user being transmitted to support personnel;

receiving a response to the prompt;

upon receiving the response, attempting to execute the first online support chat client to establish the first online support chat session with first support personnel associated with a first designated target support provider, and passing the support event information, the data regarding the computer and the user, and a consent flag indicating the response to the prompt to the first online support chat client;

storing the consent flag associated with the first online support chat client, the consent flag utilized to determine the consent of the user to transmit the data regarding the computer and the user to the first support personnel in a subsequent launch of the first online support chat client;

upon the detection of a second combination of trigger conditions satisfying a second of the at least two different event definitions, collecting data regarding the computer and the user of the computer, and attempting to establish a second online support chat session with second support personnel associated of a second designated target support provider by executing a second online support chat client associated with a second support event;

determining if the first or second online support chat client launched successfully; and

determining if the first or second online support chat client did not launch successfully, and if not launched successfully, displaying first or second different corresponding alternative content respectively associated with the first and second of the at least two different event definitions regarding the respective first or second support event to the user of the computer.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the data regarding the computer and the user comprises one or more of information identifying a hardware and software configuration of the computer, information identifying a user of the computer, and information identifying a support account for the user and the computer.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein retrieving the data regarding the computer and the user comprises retrieving information regarding the computer, the user, and the support account previously collected and stored in a non-volatile storage of the computer.