Proactive chat support

• US 8,843,851 B1
• Filed: 07/28/2011
• Issued: 09/23/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/28/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intuit, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Intuit, Inc.
• Inventors: Ramanathan, Rajasivasubramanian, Gotchy, Matthew B., Poteet, Jason Alexander, Smith, Anne Quinter, Panian, Michael Anthony, Moneypenny, Zachery, Tolchinsky, Alexandr
• Primary Examiner(s): Pesin, Boris
• Assistant Examiner(s): HEFFINGTON, JOHN M
• Application Number:
  US13/193,425
• Time in Patent Office: 1,153 Days
• Field of Search: 715/708, 715/765, 715/709, 715/710, 715/819, 715/829
• US Class Current: 715/819
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1818 Conference organisation arrangements, e.g. handling schedules, setting up parameters needed by nodes to attend a conference, booking network resources, notifying involved parties
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/046 Interoperability with other network applications or services

Abstract

In general, in one aspect, the invention relates to a method for providing online support to a user of a client application. The method includes: initiating a wizard including dialogs for completing a task; displaying a dialog to the user; enabling, based on a network connection being available, a help threshold associated with the dialog; determining, by a computer processor, that the help threshold is exceeded after enabling the help threshold; sending, in response to the help threshold being exceeded, an availability request to an external support server; receiving, after sending the availability request, a confirmation of an available support specialist; displaying an indication to the user that support is available; receiving a support request from the user; opening a chat dialog in response to receiving the support request; and initiating, using the chat dialog, a chat session between the user and the available support specialist.

Claims

1. A method for providing online support to a user of a client application executing on a client computing device, comprising:

initiating a client application wizard on the client computing device comprising a plurality of dialogs for completing a task;

displaying a dialog of the plurality of dialogs to the user of the client application, wherein the client application is one selected from a group consisting of a tax preparation application, a payroll application, and a financial management application;

determining by a user support module of the client application that a network connection is available on the client computing device;

enabling by the user support module of the client application, after determining that the network connection is available on the client computing device, a help threshold associated with the dialog and comprising a help threshold percentage;

calculating, by the user support module of the client application, a result based on a dollar amount in a first field of the client application wizard populated by the user;

determining, by the user support module executing on a computer processor of the client computing device, and based on a comparison of the result and the help threshold percentage, that the help threshold is exceeded after enabling the help threshold, wherein exceeding the help threshold indicates that the user of the client application requires assistance in completing the task;

sending via the network connection of the client computing device, in response to the help threshold being exceeded, an availability request to an external support server;

receiving via the network connection of the client computing device, after sending the availability request, a confirmation of an available support specialist specializing in completing the task;

displaying, in response to receiving the confirmation, an indication to the user of the client application that the support specialist is available over the network connection;

receiving, in response to displaying the indication to the user of the client application, a support request from the user of the client application;

opening a chat dialog over the network connection of the client computing device in response to receiving the support request from the user of the client application; and

initiating, using the chat dialog, a chat session over the network connection of the client computing device between the user and the available support specialist.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

setting focus to the first field in the dialog, wherein the help threshold further comprises a time interval corresponding to the first field, and wherein determining that the help threshold is exceeded further comprises determining that the time interval is elapsed.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

starting a timer in response to setting focus to the first field, wherein determining that the time interval is elapsed is based on the timer;

detecting, prior to determining that the time interval is elapsed, that an application window of the client application has lost focus;

pausing the timer in response to detecting that the application window has lost focus;

detecting, after pausing the timer, that the application window has regained focus; and

restarting the timer in response to detecting that the application window has regained focus.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the first field maintains focus during the first time interval.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

entering by the user, prior to setting focus to the first field, a value into a second field in the dialog; and

adjusting the time interval based on the value.

6. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

obtaining, prior to setting focus to the first field, the time interval from the external support server; and

storing the time interval in a file system storing the client application.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the help threshold is exceeded comprises:

detecting, in a predefined order, a shift of focus between a plurality of fields in the dialog, wherein determining that the help threshold is exceeded further comprises detecting the shift of focus.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying a preceding dialog of the plurality of dialogs to the user;

identifying a time interval associated with the preceding dialog; and

determining, prior to displaying the dialog, that the time interval is elapsed, wherein the preceding dialog remains open during the time interval, and wherein determining that the help threshold is exceeded further comprises determining that the time interval is elapsed.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving the help threshold from the external support server; and

receiving, after initiating the chat session, an update to the help threshold.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining a plurality of support-related metadata from a plurality of client applications comprising the client application, wherein the plurality of support-related metadata corresponds to support requests received from the client applications;

identifying a common trend based on the plurality of support-related metadata; and

defining a new help threshold based on the common trend.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

uploading a screenshot of the client application to the external support server, wherein the screenshot is sent to the available support specialist.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the chat dialog is a web browser window external to the client application.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the chat dialog is within the client application.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a plurality of instructions for providing online support to a user of a client application executing on a client computing device, the plurality of instructions comprising functionality to:

initiate a client application wizard on the client computing device comprising a plurality of dialogs for completing a task;

display a dialog of the plurality of dialogs to the user of the client application, wherein the client application is one selected from a group consisting of a tax preparation application, a payroll application, and a financial management application;

determine by a user support module of the client application that a network connection is available on the client computing device;

enable by the user support module of the client application, after determining that the network connection is available on the client computing device, a help threshold associated with the dialog and comprising a help threshold percentage;

calculate, by the user support module of the client application, a result based on a dollar amount in a first field of the client application wizard populated by the user;

determine by the user support module executing on a computer processor of the client computing device, after enabling the help threshold and based on a comparison of the result and the help threshold percentage, that the help threshold is exceeded, wherein exceeding the help threshold indicates that the user of the client application requires assistance in completing the task;

send via the network connection of the client computing device, in response to the help threshold being exceeded, an availability request to an external support server;

receive via the network connection of the computing device, after sending the availability request, a confirmation of an available support specialist specializing in completing the task;

display, in response to receiving the confirmation, an indication to the user of the client computing device that the support specialist is available over the network connection;

receive, in response to displaying the indication to the user of the client application, a support request from the user of the client application;

open a chat dialog over the network connection of the client computing device in response to receiving the support request from the user of the client application; and

initiate, using the chat dialog, a chat session over the network connection of the client computing device between the user and the available support specialist.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the plurality of instructions further comprise functionality to:

set focus to the first field in the dialog, wherein the help threshold further comprises a time interval corresponding to the first field, and wherein determining that the help threshold is exceeded further comprises determining that the time interval is elapsed.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the plurality of instructions further comprise functionality to:

enter, prior to setting focus to the first field, a value into a second field in the dialog; and

adjust the time interval based on the value.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein determining that the help threshold is exceeded further comprises:

detecting, in a predefined order, a shift of focus between a plurality of fields in the dialog, wherein determining that the help threshold is exceeded further comprises detecting the shift of focus.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the plurality of instructions further comprise functionality to:

display a preceding dialog of the plurality of dialogs to the user;

identify a time interval associated with the preceding dialog; and

determine, prior to displaying the dialog, that the time interval is elapsed, wherein the preceding dialog remains open during the time interval, and wherein determining that the help threshold is exceeded further comprises determining that the time interval is elapsed.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the plurality of instructions further comprise functionality to:

receive, after initiating the chat session, an update to the help threshold.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the plurality of instructions further comprise functionality to:

obtain a plurality of support-related metadata from a plurality of client applications comprising the client application, wherein the plurality of support-related metadata corresponds to support requests received from the client applications;

identify a common trend based on the plurality of support-related metadata; and

define a new help threshold based on the common trend.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the plurality of instructions further comprise functionality to:

upload a screenshot of the client application to the external support server, wherein the screenshot is sent to the available support specialist.

22. A system for providing online support to a user, comprising:

a client computing device of a user comprising a processor;

a client application executing on the processor and configured to;

initiate a client application wizard on the client computing device comprising a plurality of dialogs for completing a task; and

display a dialog of the plurality of dialogs to the user of the client application,

wherein the client application is one selected from a group consisting of a tax preparation application, a payroll application, and a financial management application; and

a user support module of the client application, configured to;

determine that a network connection is available on the client computing device;

enable, after determining that the network connection being available on the client computing device, a help threshold associated with the dialog and comprising a help threshold percentage;

calculate, by the user support module of the client application, a result based on a dollar amount in a field of the client application wizard populated by the user;

determine, after enabling the help threshold and based on a comparison of the result and the help threshold percentage, that the help threshold is exceeded, wherein exceeding the help threshold indicates that the user of the client application requires assistance in completing the task;

send via the network connection of the client computing device, in response to the help threshold being exceeded, an availability request to an external support server;

receive via the network connection of the client computing device, after sending the availability request, a confirmation of an available support specialist specializing in completing the task;

display, in response to receiving a confirmation of an available support specialist, an indication to the user of the client application that the support specialist is available over the network connection;

receive, in response to displaying the indication to the user of the client application, a support request from the user of the client application;

open a chat dialog over the network connection of the client computing device in response to receiving the support request from the user of the client application; and

initiate, using the chat dialog, a chat session over the network connection of the client computing device between the user and the available support specialist.

23. The system of claim 22, further comprising:

an external support server configured to;

send, in response to the availability request, the confirmation of the available support specialist to the user support module.