Resource partitioning for routing on-demand services

• US 9,654,639 B1
• Filed: 01/14/2016
• Issued: 05/16/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Balarajan, Paul Sanjeev, Johnson, Warren, Lopez, Matt J., Syed, Masroor Hussain, Siow, Andy Kwan Jin, VanDoren, Brian T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Quynh
• Application Number:
  US14/995,596
• Time in Patent Office: 488 Days
• Field of Search: 37926512, 37926513, 37926601, 379309
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063112 Skill-based matching of a person or a group to a task
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06315 Needs-based resource requirements planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/401 Performance feedback
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/408 Customer-specific call routing plans
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5175 Call or contact centers supervision arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5183 Call or contact centers with computer-telephony arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5233 Operator skill based call distribution

Abstract

An issue is identified based on context information and a state of engagement of a user. The issue is matched against an agent based on agent capabilities exposed by the agent. Feedback information is used to generate a reputation metric for the agent.

Claims

1. A computing system, comprising:

matching logic configured to;

receive, from a client computing system, an issue request;

based on the issue request, automatically identify a context of the client computing system, the context being indicative of at least one of a state of readiness of the client computing system or a state of engagement of the client computing system with a hosted service, that is hosted by a computing system remote from the client computing system;

based on the identified context, automatically identify an issue encountered at the client computing system, the issue being in a subject matter area; and

match the issue request against agent information indicative of agent capabilities, of a plurality of different agents, in the subject matter area, to identify an agent; and

connection logic configured to;

send the issue request to the identified agent at an agent computing system; and

generate a connection user interface for a user of the client computing system to interact with the identified agent at the agent computing system.

2. The computing system of claim 1 wherein the agent information is grouped into groups, each group corresponding to a particular subject matter area and to a pool of agents with capabilities in the particular subject matter area, and wherein the matching logic comprises:

subject matter area matching logic configured to match the issue to a pool based on the subject matter area corresponding to the pool.

3. The computing system of claim 1 wherein the subject matter area matching logic is configured to identify a particular agent based on the subject matter area of the request and the capabilities of the particular agent in the subject matter area indicated by the agent information for the particular agent.

4. The computing system of claim 3 wherein the matching logic comprises:

reputation matching logic configured to identify the particular agent based on an agent reputation metric indicative of user feedback information for the particular agent in resolving prior issue requests.

5. The computing system of claim 4 wherein the matching logic is configured to identify the particular agent based on agent availability.

6. The computing system of claim 5 wherein the connection logic further comprises:

agent available logic configured to generate a user experience with a user interface display that has an agent contact mechanism that is actuated to communicate with the particular agent using a first communication channel, based on the particular agent being available.

7. The computing system of claim 6 wherein the connection logic further comprises:

agent unavailable logic configured to generate a user experience with a user interface display that has an agent contact mechanism that is actuated to communicate with the particular agent using a second communication channel, based on the particular agent being unavailable.

8. The computing system of claim 4 and further comprising:

reputation metric generation logic configured to generate the agent reputation metric for the particular agent based on the user feedback information.

9. The computing system of claim 8 wherein the reputation metric generation logic comprises:

a user experience generator configured to generate a user feedback experience that displays a user feedback display with a user feedback mechanism that is actuated to provide the user feedback information as a user satisfaction indicator indicative of user satisfaction with the particular agent.

10. The computing system of claim 9 wherein the reputation metric generation logic comprises:

a metric calculator configured to obtain any pre-existing reputation metric for the particular agent and modify the pre-existing reputation metric based on the user satisfaction indicator.

11. The computing system of claim 10 wherein the metric calculator is configured to calculate a subject matter area-specific reputation metric for the particular agent based on the user satisfaction indicator and based on the subject matter area identified in the issue request.

12. A computer implemented method, comprising:

receiving an issue request;

based on the received issue request, automatically identify a context of a remote client system, the context being indicative of at least one of a state of readiness of the remote client system or a state of engagement of the remote client system with a hosted service, that is hosted by a computing system remote from the remote client system;

based on the identified context, automatically identify an issue encountered at the remote client system, the issue being in a subject matter area;

matching the issue request against agent information indicative of agent capabilities, of a plurality of different agents, in the subject matter area;

identifying an agent that has capabilities in the subject matter area identified in the issue request, based on the matching;

sending the request to the identified agent at an agent system; and

generating a connection user interface for a user of the client system to interact with the identified agent at the agent system.

13. The computer implemented method of claim 12 wherein the agent information is grouped into groups, each group corresponding to a particular subject matter area and to a pool of agents with capabilities in the particular subject matter area, and wherein matching comprises:

matching the issue to a pool based on the subject matter area corresponding to the pool.

14. The computer implemented method of claim 12 wherein matching comprises:

identifying a particular agent based on the subject matter area of the request and the capabilities of the particular agent in the subject matter area indicated by the agent information for the particular agent.

15. The computer implemented method of claim 14 wherein matching comprises:

identifying the particular agent based on an agent reputation metric indicative of user feedback information for the particular agent in resolving prior issue requests.

16. The computer implemented method of claim 15 wherein generating the connection further comprises:

generating a user experience with a user interface display that has an agent contact mechanism that is actuated to communicate with the particular agent using a first communication channel, based on the particular agent being available.

17. The computer implemented method of claim 16 wherein generating the connection further comprises:

generating a user experience with a user interface display that has an agent contact mechanism that is actuated to communicate with the particular agent using a second communication channel, based on the particular agent being unavailable.

18. The computer implemented method of claim 15 and further comprising:

generating a user feedback experience that displays a user feedback display with a user feedback mechanism that is actuated to provide the user feedback information as a user satisfaction indicator indicative of user satisfaction with the particular agent.

19. A computing system, comprising:

subject matter area matching logic configured to;

receive an issue request;

based on the issue request, automatically identify a context of a client system, the context being indicative of at least one of a state of readiness of the client system or a state of engagement of the client system with a hosted service, that is hosted by a computing system remote from the client system;

based on the identified context, automatically identify an issue encountered at the client system, the issue being in a subject matter area;

match the issue request against agent information indicative of agent capabilities, of a plurality of different agents, in the subject matter area, to identify a particular agent;

reputation matching logic configured to identify the particular agent based on an agent reputation metric indicative of user feedback information for the particular agent in resolving prior issue requests; and

connection logic configured to send the issue request to the particular agent at an agent system and generate a connection user interface for a user of the client system to interact with the particular agent at the agent system.

20. The computing system of claim 19 and further comprising:

reputation metric generation logic comprising a user experience generator that generates a user feedback experience that displays a user feedback display with a user feedback mechanism that is actuated to provide the user feedback information as a user satisfaction indicator indicative of user satisfaction with the particular agent, and a metric calculator that obtains any pre-existing reputation metric for the particular agent and modifies the pre-existing reputation metric based on the user satisfaction indicator.