Customer support via social network
First Claim
1. A method to provide customer support, comprising:
- searching, by a processor of a customer support computer system, a social network server of a social network for a pre-determined customer support keyword in a plurality of social network messages, wherein the pre-determined customer support keyword is found while the plurality of social network messages are exchanged among customers via social network accounts maintained on the social network server for the customers, wherein the customer support computer system is separate from the social network server;
obtaining information of a sender of a social network message of the plurality of the social network messages when the pre-determined customer support keyword is detected in the social network message, wherein the pre-determined customer support keyword identifies a need of the sender of the social network message for customer support;
sending, using the processor automatically without human intervention, a first surrogate social network message from a surrogate social network account to the sender of the social network message, wherein the surrogate social network account is registered on the social network server to represent the customer support computer system as a user of the social network, wherein the first surrogate social network message comprises an offer to the sender of the social network message to obtain customer support via a customer support link embedded in the first surrogate social network message; and
responsive to the sender of the social network message activating the customer support link upon receiving the first surrogate social network message and accepting the offer, presenting customer support information to the sender of the social network message.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method to provide customer support including searching a social network server for a pre-determined customer support keyword in social network messages, to obtain information of a social network message sender where the pre-determined customer support keyword identifies a need of the sender for customer support, automatically sending a surrogate social network message to the sender including an offer to obtain customer support via a customer support link embedded in the surrogate social network message, and presenting customer support information to the sender in response to the sender activating the customer support link upon receiving the surrogate social network message and accepting the offer.
-
Citations
30 Claims
-
1. A method to provide customer support, comprising:
-
searching, by a processor of a customer support computer system, a social network server of a social network for a pre-determined customer support keyword in a plurality of social network messages, wherein the pre-determined customer support keyword is found while the plurality of social network messages are exchanged among customers via social network accounts maintained on the social network server for the customers, wherein the customer support computer system is separate from the social network server; obtaining information of a sender of a social network message of the plurality of the social network messages when the pre-determined customer support keyword is detected in the social network message, wherein the pre-determined customer support keyword identifies a need of the sender of the social network message for customer support; sending, using the processor automatically without human intervention, a first surrogate social network message from a surrogate social network account to the sender of the social network message, wherein the surrogate social network account is registered on the social network server to represent the customer support computer system as a user of the social network, wherein the first surrogate social network message comprises an offer to the sender of the social network message to obtain customer support via a customer support link embedded in the first surrogate social network message; and responsive to the sender of the social network message activating the customer support link upon receiving the first surrogate social network message and accepting the offer, presenting customer support information to the sender of the social network message. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A system for providing customer support, comprising:
-
a social network server of a social network, communicatively coupled to a customer support server that is separate from the social network server, comprising; a messaging controller configured to receive and post a plurality of social network messages from a plurality of members of the social network; an application programming interface (API) configured to provide programming access to data of the plurality of social network messages by third party software applications; and a surrogate social network account registered on the social network server to represent the customer support server as a user of the social network; and the customer support server comprising a hardware processor and memory storing instructions executable by the hardware processor configured to perform; searching the social network server for a pre-determined customer support keyword in the plurality of social network messages, wherein the pre-determined customer support keyword is found while the plurality of social network messages are exchanged among customers via social network accounts maintained on the social network server for the customers; obtaining information of a sender of a social network message of the plurality of the social network messages when the pre-determined customer support keyword is detected in the social network message, wherein the pre-determined customer support keyword identifies a need of the sender of the social network message for customer support, wherein the sender of the social network message is one of the member of the social network; sending, automatically without human intervention, a first surrogate social network message from the surrogate social network account to the sender of the social network message, wherein the first surrogate social network message comprises an offer to the sender of the social network message to obtain customer support via a customer support link embedded in the first surrogate social network message; and responsive to the sender of the social network message activating the customer support link upon receiving the first surrogate social network message and accepting the offer, presenting customer support information to the sender of the social network message. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
-
21. A non-transitory computer readable medium, embodying instructions executable by a computer processor to provide customer support, the instructions comprising functionality for:
-
searching a social network server of a social network for a pre-determined customer support keyword in a plurality of social network messages, wherein the pre-determined customer support keyword is found while the plurality of social network messages are exchanged among customers via social network accounts maintained on the social network server for the customers, wherein the customer support computer system is separate from the social network server; obtaining information of a sender of a social network message of the plurality of the social network messages when the pre-determined customer support keyword is detected in the social network message, wherein the pre-determined customer support keyword identifies a need of the sender of the social network message for customer support; sending, automatically without human intervention, a first surrogate social network message from a surrogate social network account to the sender of the social network message, wherein the surrogate social network account is registered on the social network server to represent the customer support computer system as a user of the social network, wherein the first surrogate social network message comprises an offer to the sender of the social network message to obtain customer support via a customer support link embedded in the first surrogate social network message; and responsive to the sender of the social network message activating the customer support link upon receiving the first surrogate social network message and accepting the offer, presenting customer support information to the sender of the social network message. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
-
Specification