System and method for providing a community portal for chat-based support services
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method comprising:
- establishing, by an apparatus, a plurality of chat sessions corresponding to customer support service among a plurality of users and one or more agents of a service provider;
retrieving, by the apparatus, profiles of the plurality of users;
dynamically including in a community, by the apparatus, one or more of the plurality of users that are participating in at least one of the plurality of chat sessions, based on a context of customer support inquiries raised in the chat sessions and the profiles of the plurality of users;
determining one or more applications specifically provided for the community, wherein the one or more applications are enabled and available for the users when waiting for the agents during the chat sessions, and the one or more applications include a message board application displaying in a graphical user interface postings of at least the customer support inquiries during the chat sessions;
in response to the waiting for the agents during the chat sessions, selecting a list of communities by the apparatus based on the context of customer support inquiries and the profiles of the plurality of users, and initiating a display of the list of communities on the graphical user interface, wherein the list of communities includes the community and at least one external community over which the service provider has no control;
linking to the postings, during the chat sessions, one or more other postings from the list of communities and applications the one or more users are associated with;
determining one or more answers within the postings in response to a search query by the one or more users during the chat sessions; and
providing in the graphical user interface an on-line auction service for the list of communities via the message board application during the chat sessions.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An approach is disclosed for providing a community portal for chat-based support services. Chat sessions corresponding to customer support service are established among multiple users and one or more agents. A community of the users is created during the chat sessions.
50 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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establishing, by an apparatus, a plurality of chat sessions corresponding to customer support service among a plurality of users and one or more agents of a service provider; retrieving, by the apparatus, profiles of the plurality of users; dynamically including in a community, by the apparatus, one or more of the plurality of users that are participating in at least one of the plurality of chat sessions, based on a context of customer support inquiries raised in the chat sessions and the profiles of the plurality of users; determining one or more applications specifically provided for the community, wherein the one or more applications are enabled and available for the users when waiting for the agents during the chat sessions, and the one or more applications include a message board application displaying in a graphical user interface postings of at least the customer support inquiries during the chat sessions; in response to the waiting for the agents during the chat sessions, selecting a list of communities by the apparatus based on the context of customer support inquiries and the profiles of the plurality of users, and initiating a display of the list of communities on the graphical user interface, wherein the list of communities includes the community and at least one external community over which the service provider has no control; linking to the postings, during the chat sessions, one or more other postings from the list of communities and applications the one or more users are associated with; determining one or more answers within the postings in response to a search query by the one or more users during the chat sessions; and providing in the graphical user interface an on-line auction service for the list of communities via the message board application during the chat sessions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A system comprising:
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an instant message platform including a processor and being configured to support a plurality of chat sessions corresponding to customer support service among a plurality of users and one or more agents of a service provider, wherein the processor is further configured to retrieve profiles of the plurality of users; and a community portal, executed on a computing system, configured to; communicate with the instant message platform and to dynamically include in a community of one or more of the plurality of users that are participating in at least one of the plurality of chat sessions, based on a context of customer support inquiries raised in the chat sessions and the profiles of the plurality of users, determine one or more applications specifically provided for the community, the one or more applications are enabled and available for the users when waiting for the agents during the chat sessions, and the one or more applications include a message board application displaying in a graphical user interface postings of at least the customer support inquiries during the chat sessions, in response to the waiting for the agents during the chat sessions, select a list of communities based on the context of customer support inquiries and the profiles of the plurality of users, initiate a display of the list of communities on the graphical user interface, wherein the list of communities includes the community and at least one external community over which the service provider has no control, link to the postings, during the chat sessions, one or more other postings from the list of communities and applications the one or more users are associated with, determine one or more answers within the postings in response to a search query by the one or more users during the chat sessions, and provide in the graphical user interface an on-line auction service for the list of communities via the message board application during the chat sessions. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method comprising:
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establishing, by a user apparatus, a chat session for customer support service to an agent, wherein the user apparatus is among a plurality of user apparatus receiving customer support service via a plurality of chat sessions with one or more agents of a service provider; transmitting, by the user apparatus, a user profile to a server to dynamically include in one or more communities that one or more of the plurality of user apparatus based upon corresponding user profiles and a context of customer support inquiries raised in the chat sessions; selecting, by the user apparatus, an option to participate in the one or more communities of the plurality of user apparatus that are participating in at least one of the plurality of chat sessions; displaying, by the user apparatus, representation of one or more applications specifically provided for the one or more communities, the one or more applications are enabled and available for the users when waiting for the agents during the chat sessions, and the one or more applications include a message board application displaying in a graphical user interface of the user apparatus postings of at least the customer support inquiries during the chat sessions; during the waiting for the agents during the chat sessions, initiating displaying on the graphical user interface a list of communities selected based on the context of customer support inquiries and the profiles of the plurality of users, wherein the list of communities includes the community and at least one external community over which the service provider has no control; in response to a search query transmitted during the chat sessions, receiving via the graphical user interface one or more answers determined within the postings; and receiving via the message board application in the graphical user interface an on-line auction service for the list of communities during the chat sessions. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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19. An apparatus comprising:
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a processor; a graphical user interface, executed by the processor, configured to establish, for a user, a chat session for customer support service to an agent, wherein the user is among a plurality of users receiving customer support service via a plurality of chat sessions with one or more agents of a service provider, wherein the processor is further configured to transmit a user profile to a server to dynamically include in one or more communities that one or more of the plurality of users based upon corresponding user profiles and a context of customer support inquiries raised in the chat sessions, wherein the graphical user interface provides an option for the user to participate in the one or more communities of the plurality of users that are participating in at least one of the plurality of chat sessions, and displays representation of one or more applications specifically provided for the one or more communities, the one or more applications are enabled and available for the users when waiting for the agents during the chat sessions, and the one or more applications include a message board application displaying in the graphical user interface postings of at least the customer support inquiries during the chat sessions, during the waiting for the agents during the chat session, the graphical user interface displays a list of communities selected based on the context of customer support inquiries and the profiles of the plurality of users, wherein the list of communities includes the community and at least one external community over which the service provider has no control, in response to a search query transmitted during the chat sessions, the graphical user interface displays one or more answers determined within the postings, and the graphical user interface receives via the message board application an on-line auction service for the list of communities during the chat sessions. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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Specification