Methods and systems for creating online unified contact and communication management (CM) platform

• US 9,384,473 B2
• Filed: 09/30/2011
• Issued: 07/05/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Seema Subrao Shenoy, Subrao Venugopal Shenoy
• Original Assignee: Seema Subrao Shenoy, Subrao Venugopal Shenoy
• Inventors: Shenoy, Subrao Venugopal, Shenoy, Seema Subrao
• Primary Examiner(s): Hussain, Tauqir
• Assistant Examiner(s): Keller, Michael A
• Application Number:
  US13/200,773
• Publication Number:
  US 20120143969A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,740 Days
• Field of Search: 709/201, 709/207, 709/212, 709/219, 379/93.01
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/27 Replication, distribution or synchronisation of data between databases or within a distributed database system; Distributed database system architectures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1093 Calendar-based scheduling for persons or groups
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1097 Task assignment
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/01 Customer relationship services
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 1/14 with apparatus adapted for use with individual cards
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/026 using e-messaging for transporting management information, e.g. email, instant messaging or chat
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/18 Delegation of network management function, e.g. customer network management [CNM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5064 Customer relationship management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5077 wherein the managed service relates to simple transport services, i.e. providing only network infrastructure
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5093 wherein the managed service relates to messaging or chat services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/52 for supporting social networking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4555 Directories for electronic mail or instant messaging
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72451 according to schedules, e.g. using calendar applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/655 Combination of telephone service and social networking
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25866 : Management of end-user data customer care in data networks H04L41/5077

Abstract

Sales people (agents) get engaged with a lot of contacts from past, present and future prospects that manifests on multiple contact platforms. They end up having their contacts and calendars split in multiple places including communication and messages leading to inefficiencies, loss of business and delayed response time to the end customer. Customer Relationship Management today is still a one dimensional tool, one that featured Email as the core for direct agent-client relationship. CRM should be redefined and relabeled as Communication Management to open up the idea that relationships with clients are developed across multiple platforms though multiple channels. As will be understood by reading below, the invention accomplishes this in an elegant manner. The phrases Communication Management in the main patent title and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) have the same semantics in this document.

Claims

1. An online unified customer relationship management contact and communication management platform having one or more processors and a non-transitory computer-readable medium containing program instructions that cause said one or more processors to:

securely import a plurality of contacts from at least one online or offline user selected and authorized accounts on cloud computing systems at a plurality of social networking platforms using at least one of email, instant messaging, social networks, and integrated telephony;

securely import a plurality of calendars from at least one online or offline user selected and authorized accounts at a plurality of social networking platforms using at least one of email, instant messaging, social networks, and integrated telephony, wherein when a first imported contact or calendar is from a first user selected and authorized account at a first social networking platform, a second imported contact or calendar is from a second user selected and authorized account at a second social networking platform, and wherein the first social networking platform is different from the second social networking platform;

synchronize and aggregate the plurality of imported contacts and calendars into one or more central unified databases;

modify at least one contact information or create at least one contact in the one or more central unified databases, including information indicating the platform origin of each of the imported contacts by consolidating cross-platform contact information for individual contacts and displaying the consolidated cross-platform contact information such that the user can select and view contact information for each contact in a platform indicating cross reference screen and search for messages based on social networking platform;

create at least one calendar with at least one event in the one or more central unified databases, including information indicating the platform origin of the event;

securely export a plurality of contact information from the one or more central databases to a plurality of user selected and authorized accounts at a plurality of social networking platforms using email, instant messaging, social networks, or integrated telephony;

securely export a plurality of calendar information from the one or more central databases to a plurality of user selected and authorized accounts at a plurality of social networking platforms using email, instant messaging, social networks, or integrated telephony, wherein if a first exported contact information or calendar information is exported to a third social networking platform, a second exported contact information or calendar information is exported to a fourth social networking platform, and wherein the third social networking platform is different from the fourth social networking platform; and

wherein the online unified contact and communication management platform enables a user to send and receive instant messages with the one or more synchronized contacts and wherein the online unified contact and communication management platform records communication threads with a contact in one or more databases; and

wherein the synchronized contacts are automatically grouped into social groups or made part of an existing social campaign; and

wherein the online unified contact and communication management platform is further configured to authorize, provide and save social media searches.

2. The online unified business lead contact and communication management platform of claim 1, wherein contacts and calendars are imported using one or more software plug-in enabled on user'"'"'s systems or browsers.

3. The online unified business lead contact and communication management platform of claim 1, wherein imported contact or calendar information from one social media source on a first social networking platform and associated with a particular business lead contact can be further used to automatically perform one or more cross reference searches for user profiles associated with the particular business lead contact from several other social media sources on a plurality of other social networking platforms concurrently and save results of the one or more cross reference searches in the one or more central unified databases.

4. The online unified business lead contact and communication management platform of claim 1, further configured to import and synchronize contacts using one or more stored business rules.

5. The online unified business lead contact and communication management platform of claim 1, further provides transaction management monitoring for users connected with the plurality of social networking platforms.